Geron Quits the Embryonic Stem Cell Industry
By Pete Shanks
| 11. 16. 2011
Geron has quit on embryonic stem cells. The company is abandoning
its world-leading clinical trial, aimed at using stem cells to treat
people paralyzed with spinal-cord injuries. It is laying off more than a third of its staff, and is writing off about $8 million. It has also repaid
the California Institute of Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) a loan of more
than $6 million, plus interest. Geron will continue to monitor the four
patients currently enrolled in the phase 1 clinical trial, and says it
is looking for another company to take it over.
The decision to terminate the trial seems to be all business, a
departure from past practices that seemed motivated more by hype and
wishful thinking. Geron's stock has been plummeting (down from $6.34 to $1.60
over the year), and new management is conducting triage. The ESC trial
is only in phase 1, a safety trial, in which severely injured patients
receive low doses of treatments that are frankly unlikely to do much
good; the point is to ensure that they do no harm. Results from that...
Related Articles
By Carl Zimmer, The New York Times | 06.04.2026
Scientists at Columbia University have edited the DNA of early human embryos with unprecedented accuracy, an achievement that could open the way to babies engineered with particular characteristics.
The prospect has fueled controversy for years. On the one hand, the...
Faster, Higher, Stronger was the Olympic motto from 1874 until 2001, when “ – Together” was added, to stress the “moral and educational perspective” of the Games. The folks who paid for or participated in the Enhanced Games – the name itself a nod to the Olympics – held in Las Vegas on Sunday, May 24, apparently use a different edit:
Faster, Higher, Stronger with Chemistry
High-level sport draws huge crowds. Coming very soon, the soccer World Cup, featuring...
By Gina Kolata, The New York Times | 05.25.2026
In a small, preliminary study, an experimental gene-editing treatment dramatically lowered cholesterol levels, perhaps permanently, after just one infusion, scientists reported on Monday.
If confirmed in larger studies, researchers hope the findings may lead to a one-and-done way to prevent...
By Ryan Cross, Endpoint News | 05.20.2026
BOSTON — Over the past year, I’ve begun hearing rumblings from scientists who secretly think it’s time to stop being stodgy about editing the genes of human embryos.
For the most part, they are still too timid to speak up...
