Researchers analysed thousands of laboratory-made plasmids and discovered that nearly half of them had defects, raising questions of experimental reproducibility.
Aggregated News
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...