Stem Cell Research for Spinal Injury

The medical world is in luck! A biotech company is going to start the firts ever study of a treatment based on embryonic stem cells. They are planning to use this research to help heal spinal cord injuries. They got permission from the government this week to inject about 10 patients with cells that came from embryonic cells. The patients are paraplegics, which means that they can use their arms but not their legs. Some doctors overseas claim to already use embryonic stem cells, but it couldn't be proven. Embryonic stem cells can develop into any cell in the body, which is really cool. Medical experts hope to use that ability to their advantage by using stem cells to replace muscle tissues that have been lost because of diseases. It seems that once the patient is injected, the stem cells will mature and repair insulation around damagednerves, helping the nerves big time. The study that the biotech company is performing will follow each patient for a year. In addition to this being completely awesome, it will be affordable!
For more information on the stem cell research, go to:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090123/ap_on_sc/sci_stem_cells;_ylt=AtlGdBISV91CGFKkOUOVmkcPLBIF.
For more information on stem cells, (I've never heard of them either) go to:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Embryonic_stem_cell.