Where Are the Cures?

Scientists call the gulf between a biomedical discovery and new treatment 'the valley of death.'

Published Nov 1, 2008
From the magazine issue dated Nov 10, 2008


It has been years since Hans Keirstead worked his biological magic, injecting stem cells into rats with severed spinal cords and thus making them walk almost normally. But the real miracle—since other experiments, too, have cured paralysis in lab animals—is that Geron Corp. plans to test the technique in people next year. Between Keirstead's experiment and Geron's trial lie these obstacles: Keirstead, a professor at the University of California, Irvine, had to invent instruments to squirt the stem cells into spinal cords ("what do we academics know about developing medical devices?" he asked me), find someone to try the technique in monkeys ("I know two researchers who handle monkeys; you have to get in line"), ramp up production of the stem cells ("it meant going from pipettes to this massive hydraulic setup") and … well, more industrial-strength biology that he wasn't trained in, that the government rarely funds and that brings exactly zero glory to a university scientist. "We hacked through the jungle and paved the road," Keirstead said. "But how many others are willing to do that?"

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http://www.newsweek.com/id/166856