Georgia's small community of cutting-edge stem cell researchers got a boost this month when the first-ever trial testing a human embryonic stem cell therapy began at Atlanta's Shepherd Center.
When it comes to stem cell research, California and Massachusetts lead the nation with hot-shot scientists and well-funded laboratories. But Georgia has its own stable of scientists working on the stem cell frontier, and the groundbreaking experiment launched on Peachtree Street could help raise the profile of Georgia's stem cell efforts.
Emory University, Georgia Tech and the University of Georgia all have scientists conducting advanced stem cell research. And the Shepherd Center can now boast that it is the first site in the world to test the safety of a treatment that scientists hope will someday help paralyzed patients walk again.
"Shepherd has now established their own precedent for running a stem cell-based clinical trial and that level of experience and expertise will be coveted," said Hans Keirstead, a neuroscientist at the University of California Irvine who pioneered the therapy being tested in the trial.
"Absolutely, they will have a real leg up on the rest of the world." The prospect of more embryonic stem cell experiments in Georgia, though, is likely to face opposition. The science is opposed by many in the state's pro-life community, who say the research destroys human life.
The trial at Shepherd is sponsored by Geron Corp., a company based in California. And California has something Georgia can't match: $3 billion in public funding for stem cell research created when voters approved a ballot measure in 2004.But researchers here say Georgia does have a place at the table, given its strong research programs in engineering, basic science and medicine. And much of the stem cell research in Georgia does not involve embryonic cells at all.
"We're very well poised to be a leader in some of these areas," said Todd McDevitt, director of Georgia Tech's stem cell engineering center. "There is tremendous potential."
'A complete package' The research going on inside McDevitt's lab, as well as labs at the University of Georgia and in clinical settings and labs at Emory University, is difficult for non-scientists to comprehend. But it is inspiring to many people with illnesses who imagine the possibilities: the ability to repair damaged heart tissue, a means of controlling cancer cells, or the possibility of effective treatments for Parkinson's disease and diabetes.Stem cells are the building blocks of the human body and have the potential to turn into the cells that build the brain, the heart or other parts of the body.
"What we've got going for us in Georgia is that we have quite a diversity of people working in this field," said Steve Stice, director of the regenerative bioscience center at the University of Georgia.
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