You may have read recent news of the closure of Europe’s largest stem cell clinic in Berlin.
To avoid any concern or confusion amongst the HSP community, it should be stated clearly that the issues and problems encountered there have absolutely no relevance and are completely unrelated to the stem cell research towards a cure for HSP that we fund.
The stem cell clinic in Europe uses stem cells therapeutically. That is to say, they inject stem cells into a patient as a treatment for diseases of various sorts. This use of stem cells has not been scientifically proven or medically approved using normal standards.
In the research at Griffith University aimed at finding a cure for HSP, human stem cells are the medium chosen to study HSP mechanisms, to discover what malfunctions in the cells through HSP causing gene mutations, and to experiment with thousands of potential drug compounds in the hope of correcting or compensating for the cell malfunctions identified.
The stem cells used in our HSP research are not potential cures, they are just an excellent way to study HSP and identify a drug cure for it. They are not part of any potential therapy and have never been considered for that role. The object right from the start has always been the discovery of a drug cure using human stem cells as the way to study HSP.
Genuine explanation and concern. Let the research grow rapidly to achieve the goal.