Geron Corp., which earlier got permission to administer stem cell — derived
oligodendrocyte progenitors to treat spinal injury, has been bogged down in delays and may not begin its trial until
late next year.
Starting with transplants of human
oligodendrocytes in the
late 1980s [40], and more recently with populations of human
oligodendrocyte progenitor cells isolated from the developing or adult CNS, or from human embryonic stem cells, it has been possible to generate extensive myelination upon transplantation into spinal cord injury or into congenital mouse models of hypomyelination [41]--[48].