February 2, 2009
The FDA announced recently that it has approved the beginning of embryonic stem cell treatment testing on patients with spinal cord injuries. Previously, the FDA was unsure if such treatments were safe for humans. The use of embryonic stem cells has never been effectively used to rehabilitate an injury. The move downplays the great successes and advancements made in the use of adult stem cells. Embryonic stem cells differ from other methods of treatment because they require the killing of a human life at its earliest stages.
The LA Times reports that the procedure involves injecting a patient with over 2 million stem cells.
“The cell therapy is made from one of the first batches of human embryonic stem cells ever created. Researchers had feared those cells could never be used to treat people because they were derived using molecules
