President Barack Obama Signs Stem Cell Executive Order - Relevance to Spinal Muscular Atrophy Research.
March 9, 2009.

Today President Barack Obama lifted some restrictions on federal funding of human embryonic stem cell research.  This executive order will permit federal funding for research on utilizing embryonic stem cells to identify cures for various disorders. 

Families of Spinal Muscular Atrophy has invested significant resources in a Stem Cell Motor Neuron Replacement Program.  We have invested $1.5 Million to develop a motor neuron replacement therapy for SMA, and we have made significant progress with our investment.

Now that the force of the federal government can support such research we hope this will expand the available resources and help advance this exciting research.

Our initial investment in stem cell research in 2000 funded efficacy studies using motor neurons from mouse stem cells.  Results show that this therapy can provide benefit to rodents with motor neuron disease: a highly significant finding.  In 2005, additional FSMA funding lead to the first, highly-pure therapeutic population of human motor neurons for cellular replacement therapy for SMA.  This program is now progressing on the path to IND in collaboration with the biotech firm California Stem Cell, Inc. (CSC), and leading research centers at University of California-Irvine, and Johns Hopkins University.  These motor neurons recently completed a series of critical animal safety studies prior to advancing into human trials for SMA.

Click here to read the latest status on the Families of SMA Program.

Quotes from the Presidential Address follow:
 “Today, with the Executive Order I am about to sign, we will bring the change that so many scientists and researchers; doctors and innovators; patients and loved ones have hoped for, and fought for, these past eight years: we will lift the ban on federal funding for promising embryonic stem cell research.  We will vigorously support scientists who pursue this research.  And we will aim for America to lead the world in the discoveries it one day may yield.

At this moment, the full promise of stem cell research remains unknown, and it should not be overstated.  But scientists believe these tiny cells may have the potential to help us understand, and possibly cure, some of our most devastating diseases and conditions.  To regenerate a severed spinal cord and lift someone from a wheelchair.  To spur insulin production and spare a child from a lifetime of needles.  To treat Parkinson’s, cancer, heart disease and others that affect millions of Americans and the people who love them. 

Ultimately, I cannot guarantee that we will find the treatments and cures we seek.  No President can promise that.  But I can promise that we will seek them – actively, responsibly, and with the urgency required to make up for lost ground.  Not just by opening up this new frontier of research today, but by supporting promising research of all kinds, including groundbreaking work to convert ordinary human cells into ones that resemble embryonic stem cells.”

Click here to see the White House fact sheet.

Click here to see an article about Hans Keirstead.