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FDA's green light for stem cell trial thrills scientists
The FDA's decision to allow Geron to launch the first clinical trial of an embryonic stem cell therapy has sent a jolt of optimism--along with an undercurrent of fresh anxiety--coursing through the fledgling stem cell field. Stem cell researchers were clearly excited that the FDA--now operating under a new administration--would give Geron an approval to get started after first delaying a trial launch. But some also expressed some anxiety that Geron's work will proceed under a spotlight of public attention likely to magnify any success or failure.
"When you're the first, the whole world's eyes are on you," Advanced Cell Technology's Robert Lanza tells the Washington Post. "We all have our fingers crossed that everything goes smoothly and nothing happens."
ACT is preparing to ask the FDA for approval to begin a clinical trial of an ESC-based therapy for blindness. And Geron will push ahead with its own trial after recruiting eight to 10 subjects with spinal cord damage.
"Today's news about Geron's embryonic stem cell clinical trials is a milestone in the new era of hope and adds to the momentum for policy change when it comes to embryonic stem cell research," said Amy Comstock Rick of the Coalition for the Advancement of Medical Research.
- read the report from the Washington Post
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Comments
My concern is with the abortion industry targeting minority populations and the approval of embryonic stem cell research, that poor and desperate women of color will be targeted to abort their fetuses to supply the industry. With over 50 million abortions since Role v Wade, we are likely to see an increase in teenage pregnancies, but a decrease in live births due to this new industry. We will also see an increase in sterility among women of color as multiple abortions decreases the likelihood of a live birth. This moves beyond morality to extinction of certain population groups.
As big pharma moves into emerging markets it then becomes an ethics issue as low to no educated women of color will abort their babies in order obtain cash payouts and to sustain their families.
So, who will embryonic stem cell research benefit? The women aborting their babies or the very rich?
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