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Stem cells are one of the most promising and most controversial technologies in medicine. For the first time ever, researchers are going to begin to learn if the promise will live up to the ethical struggles. Richard Fessler, MD, PhD, a neurosurgeon Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine has used embryonic stem cells for the first time in a human being. With his colleagues, Dr. Fessler took stem cells harvested from embryos destined to be discarded after in vitro fertilization and placed them in the spine of a patient that was paralyzed from a spinal injury. The hope is that these stem cells will differentiate into adult spinal cells, help innervate the spine and limbs once again, and give the patient the ability to move.

In this case, embryonic stem cells were taken and partially matured in precursor cells before implantation. In other words, the stem cells had the potential to be virtually any cell in the body, but the maturation process took it a little farther along the path to becoming a cell that covers the spine. This neuron covering, called the myelin sheath, is somewhat like the insulation that covers a wire cable. After a spinal injury, the myelin breaks down and a scar forms, disrupting communication. The oligodendrocytes (myelin sheath cells) will hopefully restore this covering but also stimulate the growth of new neurons.

While this surgery is a milestone in stem cell research, it will not make or break the field. It opens the door to more human stem cell research, but the results from this one person will not determine the future of research. Dr. Fessler hopes to enroll ten patients in this small, initial clinical trial. He is working with a company called Geron Corp. that is investigating stems cells for the heart repair, liver repair, and pancreatic cells for the treatment of diabetes, among others.