“While stem cells are proving invaluable for research, translating the promising science into new therapies is a slow, painstaking process with many setbacks. A safe first trial would have paved the way for many others to follow.”

—GEORGE Q. DALEY, a leading stem cell researcher at Harvard Medical School, in response to the disappointing news that California-based biotech company Geron Corp. abandoned its stem cell trial in spinal cord patients with paralysis — the first embryonic stem cell trial in humans to be approved by the FDA — largely because of financial concerns. Geron said it would narrow its focus to cancer drugs, and announced it would eliminate 38% of its workforce. Researchers are continuing to watch the second human stem cell trial, which launched in July, using retinal stem cells to treat patients with degenerative eye diseases that cause blindness. [via The Washington Post]