Scrutinizing a Stem Cell Trial 54
Wired News has an interesting discussion of a clinical stem cell trial with the CEO of Geron, a California based stem cell company. The author takes time to discuss some of the process and hurdles that are faced by a company who wishes to engage in early clinical trials. From the article: "After an hour of speaking to Okarma, fears of a half-baked trial dissipated. He readily answered my many questions. If he didn't have the animal data to answer a query, he didn't try to dance around that fact. Okarma outlined a structured but malleable trial. I initially had reservations about safety, but Okarma emphasized that if the animal data is not good, the study will not move forward until problems are addressed."
Rats can walk! (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Rats can walk! (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Rats can walk! (Score:3, Funny)
They would probably be happier if we didn't intentionally paralyze them first!
Re:Rats can walk! (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Rats can walk! (Score:1)
In a related story, the next edition of Nature will contain the results of a new longditudinal study released by NIST.
The most important parts of the study is it's conclusion that scientists are the leading cause of cancer in lab rats. There is also some speculation as to wether or not this would also apply to humans.
Interesting job description (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Interesting job description (Score:2)
Same Mechanism of Action as Geron (Score:1)
This treatment works the same way as Geron's. All-in-all, pretty cool.
Testing on bums (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Testing on bums (Score:2)
Re:Testing on bums (Score:1)
Summary (Score:3, Insightful)
What does it say about our society... (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:What does it say about our society... (Score:2)
That some people have a different set of morals and ethics than that of you and I?
Re:What does it say about our society... (Score:1)
The question is, what does it say about you?
You know what they say about Okarma... (Score:2)
Will posting this hurt my excellent Okarma?
Re:You know what they say about Okarma... (Score:2)
Probably not. I get modded -1 Oflamebait and Otroll all the time and I still have excellent Okarma for some reason.
When to believe (Score:3, Insightful)
Don't believe that. Not because it's stem cells, not because Tom Okarma's a bad person (I have no idea about his character), but because that's not an independent, verifiable standard. Be happy that bad things should be avoided because some procedure is being followed and verified, not because you have a good feeling about a person. You want a process that deals with the honest folk and the dishonest folk just the same way, and works for both. Trust breaks the day you have a dishonest person on the other side of the table.
Still, I guess this is offtopic. It's an interesting article.
Re:When to believe (Score:1)
The writer is a narcissistic nitwit.
Yet you post as an Anonymous Coward.
I was impressed with the deliberate contamination of the OPC1 cells with ESCs to see what would happen if a rogue ESC got loose, and some other comments that I failed to include in the Q&A. (The full transcript of the interview was right around 9600 words, so I had to condense a good bit.)
Re:When to believe (Score:1)
Thanks 1984.
BTW, my comment on trusting the safety of the trial has nothing to do with Okarma as a person (who I do not know well enough to judge), rather it was based on the fact that he expressed no reservations about addressing concerns that are raised about the safety before moving into human trials.
Stem cell trials? (Score:2)
Re:Stem cell trials? (Score:2)
You'll love it...it's a way of life (Score:1, Offtopic)
Good. (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Good. (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Good. (Score:3, Informative)
Not all propaganda is "anti-science" (Score:2)
Okama:We've got the world's only GMP master cell bank of human embryonic stem cells with lines that are fully qualified for human use which, by the way, are two of Bush's approved lines. So the stuff you hear published that all of those lines are irrevocably contaminated with mouse materials and could never be used in people -- hogwash. If you know how to grow them, they're fine.
Perhaps some of the propaganda is anti-ethics in the name of science, poisoning the well towards those who have ethical o
EMBRYONIC Stem Cell (Score:2)
Re:EMBRYONIC Stem Cell (Score:1)
Seth, they are embryonic, and that is discussed in the interview. The title can only be a certain length, so Embryonic was not included.
Would you mind relaying to me which stem cell trials are curing paralysis?
Re:EMBRYONIC Stem Cell (Score:2)
Like one [webmd.com]? It's not perfect, as the article points out, but it's working for some people, which seems to satisfy your criteria.
Re:EMBRYONIC Stem Cell (Score:1)
Re:EMBRYONIC Stem Cell (Score:2)
I'm no doctor, but I think they said stem cells from adult organs, and, even if the reporter hasn't a clue, there are also several stories regarding the successes of umbilical cord extractions, which are also not embryonic.
Re:EMBRYONIC Stem Cell (Score:1)
The cells Dr. Lima transplants do come from an adult source, but characterizing them as stem cells is incorrect. I have written [blogspot.com] about this before.
I have also written [wired.com] about the umbilical cord blood stem cell transplants.
Interestingly, the surgery involved in both transplants involves decompression surgery. Decompression of a compressed cord, by itself, can lead to substantial gains.
Of more interest, the doctors in South Korea are developing a percutaneous method of delivering the UCBSCs that will not
I for one welcome our Immortalized Cell Line (Score:1)
Or, I would, except I've noticed they have bizarre multi-nucleic aberrant patterns in later generations that makes it difficult to get mono-nucleic offspring in vivo as one would expect in the real world
Nobody ever talks about some of the side effects of what we do to get these lines going, since we're not permitted to create new cell lines, as any decent scientific experiment would demand.
Bullshit (Score:1)
Without immunosuppressive drugs I don't believe this. And even without it *should* increase the chance of gaining M.S.
There is a great pressure for scientists in this field to produce results (for money) and to move to clinical trials (because that is what motivates them, and what their backers want. But primarily it is
Re:Bullshit (Score:1)
Re:Bullshit (Score:1)
Maset, here's the full portion of that section of the transcript:
Re:Bullshit (Score:1)
Re:Bullshit (Score:1)