Stem Cells and Spinal Cord Repair

For the past couple of decades, clinicians have watched the stem-cell field with a mixture of anticipation and skepticism. No group of patients has been more expectant than those with spinal cord injuries. Therapies for spinal cord injury have been promised almost since the dawning of the stem-cell field. The recent launch — and abrupt termination — of a phase 1 clinical trial for acute spinal cord injury by the biotechnology company Geron whetted the appetite, and then fueled the frustration, of these patients.A recent study by Sakai et al.1 is one of a series in this field. It . . .