In Atlanta, the Geron Corp. has announced that it has finally begun the “first ever” human patient embryonic stem cell trial. Last Friday the first patient was injected with stem cells derived from human embryonic stem cells (though, not directly injected with the ESCs themselves). The purpose of this first trial is to test the safety of the therapy rather than its effectiveness. You may recall that it was safety concerns that caused the FDA to put a stop to this trial just over a year ago (they reversed that decision this July) and some scientists, even ESCR proponents, still think that human trials may be a bit immature. I, certainly, hope and pray that the patients in this trial do not experience the dangerous and deadly side effects that have plagued ESCR in animal models for the past 20+ years. Of course, at the same time. I really do not want to see this research progress, either.

True to form, the media reporting on this development has failed to acknowledge that adult stem cells have not only been shown safe to use in humans, but have also proven to be effective in treating spinal cord injury (the injury Geron is hoping to treat in this trial) for several years now, even some with long term injuries (the patients in Geron’s trial have new injuries) – see here, here, here, here, here and here for some examples.

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