Summary:
The pioneering trial of a cancer therapy that could transform the lives of people with spinal injuries has been halted.

Full article:
By . Nadia Gilani . Last updated at 12:22 PM on 16th November 2011 . The world’s first trial of embryonic stem cell treatment has been shelved. Californian biotech company Geron hoped the revolutionary therapy would help the paralysed walk again. The trial on men and women with spinal cord injuries caused by car crashes and sporting accidents was hailed as ‘the beginning of a new chapter in medical therapeutics’. Pioneering: The controversial trial was the first to use human embryonic stem cells, plucked from embryos in the first days of life . But after treating just four patients, Geron has pulled out of the field, blaming the high costs and red tape of stem cell research and ‘uncertain economic conditions’. However, others questioned whether it . would have given up on the treatment if it really was going to produce . the miracles promised. The controversial trial was the first to use human embryonic stem cells, plucked from embryos in the first days of life, and capable of turning into any of the cell types found in the body. Geron, which now intends to focus on cancer drugs, has not released any information about how well the treatment worked. Europe’s first embryonic stem cell trial is due to start later this year when a jab to cure blindness is tested at London’s Moorfields Eye Hospital.