First test with Human Embryonic Stem Cells
U.S. doctors announced Monday, October 11 have begun to treat a patient partially paralyzed with cells derived from human embryonic cell lines. The attempt raised great hopes among people who suffer damage to the spinal cord but also the important ethical questions. This is the first time ever a test of this type is attempted.
For now, he is evaluating the safety and tolerance of Human Embryonic Stem Cells research that were injected on a voluntary patient. Before checking in a second time, this treatment can regenerate damaged nerve cells and eventually allow the patient to regain mobility and sensitivity. The firm Geron, which works on this test since 1999, is known for its high-profile ads that drive up its stock market quotations. The firm has fought for years against the administration of George Bush who refused to authorize such work. She finally received the green light by U.S. authorities following the election of Barack Obama. Geron claims to have conducted a series of attempts in animals before launching today in humans.
The biggest unknown for such a graft remains the risk of cancer. Embryonic stem cells have indeed the capacity to differentiate into any cell in the human body, but also to multiply without limit. “This trial seems premature because the risk of tumor formation is real because of the genetic instability of these cells,” said Professor Alain Privat, research director at Inserm and specialist in spinal cord. For him “it is being tested on humans treatment whose safety is not assured.”
The use of Human Embryonic Stem Cells raises ethical questions because it involves destroying an embryo. Other labs are working on alternative techniques, including using adult stem cells Ips, that is to say reprogrammed to become nerve cells. But they are also currently a high risk of tumor formation. “We will succeed in overcoming this risk but it will take time,” said Professor Privat. Other gene therapy trials focus to promote regrowth of nerve cells. Privat’s lab has tested this method successfully on mice and rats and is about to implement it on pork.
The expectation of patients, often young and severely disabled, is enormous. “We need to exercise extreme caution on a topic of great hope for our patients are ready for anything, including becoming guinea pigs in dangerous experiments,” said the doctor who saw in China, practitioners grafted nerve cells “to the unknown origin.” In France, the use of human embryonic stem cells will soon be debated in Parliament within the framework of the revision of the bioethics laws.
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