The move offers hope to millions who are seriously injured in car crashes or sporting accidents and would otherwise not be expected to walk again.
New chapter: The potential of human embryonic stem cells will be trialled on paraplegicsThe controversial experiments are to begin in the U.S. within months in what experts hail as a new era for medicine under Barack Obama’s presidency.
His predecessor George W. Bush was an opponent of stem cell research on moral grounds but President Obama has made it clear that he believes it has a large part to play in scientific developments.
US regulators cleared the way for the tests just three days after President Obama was sworn into office.
The trial will see ten people paralysed from the waist down become the first in the world to be injected with embryonic stem cells, which can be turned into any cell in the body.
Treatment will take place within the first two weeks of their injury, as it is not expected to work on long-standing problems.
Scientists will use a cocktail of chemicals to turn the embryonic stem cells into cells thought to be capable of repairing spinal cords damaged in accidents.
It is hoped that once injected into the body, the cells will replenish levels of myelin, the fatty protective sheath that insulates the nerve fibres of the brain and spinal cord.
Stocks of myelin fall when the spine is injured, causing paralysis.
Huge promise: The technology could have helped Superman actor Christopher Reeve who was confined to a wheelchair after a horse riding accidentGeron – the California-based biotech company given the green light to go ahead with the trials – has already succeeded in making paralysed rats walk again and is optimistic the treatment will work on people.
But for thousands of Britons, the trial, hailed as a potential ‘earthquake in terms of treatment of spinal injury’, offers fresh hope.
Thomas Okarma, Geron’s chief executive, said the idea ‘is not to make somebody get up and dance the next day’ but to provide an improvement that can be boosted by physiotherapy, perhaps allowing some patients to walk again – albeit shakily.
He added the injected cells also pump out substances that stimulate nerve growth – meaning they hold potential for treating strokes, multiple sclerosis and even Alzheimer’s disease.
It could also be extended to patients with neck injuries, similar to those sustained by Superman actor Christopher Reeve who was left paralysed after a riding accident in 1995.
Controversial technology: A single cell is removed from a human embryo to generate stem cells for scientific researchIf the treatment is successful, it could be in widespread use in as little as four or five years, with a ‘remarkably affordable’ price tag, says Geron.
Embryonic stem cells, plucked from embryos in the first weeks of life, offer more promise than other types of stem cell, but their use is controversial, as their extraction leads to the death of the embryo, leading to protests that life is being sacrificed in
the interest of medicine.
A backlash against the change of course is growing, with Roman Catholic leaders, evangelical Christians and ethical campaigners calling the shift in stem cell policy a ‘terrible mistake’.
Although Mr Obama hasn’t yet reversed his predecessor’s ruling to free up federal funding, he has long been a strong supporter of stem cell research.
He left no doubt during his campaign that he would shift White House policy to encourage scientists to pursue the new frontier in medicine.
To do so would only require him to sign a new executive order without needing the backing of US Congress.
The U.S. move could also benefit British companies involved in stem cell research, such as Guildford-based drug developer ReNeuron.
The firm is carrying out British trials on a stroke treatment using foetal stem cells, which could potentially help 50million worldwide, and is awaiting the go-ahead to undertake similar human studies in the U.S..
Shares in ReNeuron shot up by 41?2 pence to 133?4 pence, a 49 per cent rise, on the back of the announcement, valuing the firm at ?22million.
Dr Wise Young, a spinal cord injury researcher, from Rutgers University in New Jersey, said: 'A lot of hope of the spinal cord injury community is riding on this trial.'
Opposed: Pro-life groups say the new technique involves destroying embryos. Pictured here are ampoules containing a medium for stem cell storageProfessor Chris Mason, a stem cell expert from University College London, said: 'This historic decision by the Food and Drug Administration is a pivotal milestone in the development of embryonic stem cell therapies.
'The knowledge that will be gained in this first clinical trial deploying embryonic stem cell derived material will accelerate the development of all future stem cell therapies.
'This decision is therefore very encouraging news for patients, carers and healthcare providers such as the NHS.'
But Josephine Quintavalle, of Comment on Reproductive Ethics, said: 'We still know very little about embryonic stem cells, which are notoriously unstable and with a capacity to form tumours, and if anything goes wrong the consequences will be very serious.
'The proposed therapy using embryonic stem cells does not seem to differ at all from existing therapies which use stem cells from the injured patients themselves.
'One has to ask what is the purpose of this much more controversial, experimental and risky route forward?'
Source: dailymail.co.uk
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