Stem cell experimentation has long been touted as the panacea for treatment of many mobility limiting diseases, particularly those that are neurologic in nature. The FDA is taking tenative first steps toward getting a productive and viable clinical trial and research program operational. CNN reports:

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — The Food and Drug Administration looks like it’s bowing to the inevitable this week and drawing the blueprint for the first-ever human experiments with human embryonic stem cells.

FDA advisors meet Thursday and Friday to begin to design how these embryonic stem cell tests will be conducted. It’s an important regulatory step that could lead to human testing as early as this year. So far, biotechs have tested their spinal-cord drugs in animals, not people.

“[The FDA meeting] is the first step towards clinical trials,” said Laurie Zoloth, professor of medical humanities and bioethics at Northwestern University. “It’s an important moment. And it’s only the very beginning.”

“Challenges and Promise of Cell-Based Therapies” is a one-day symposium to explore promising research in regenerative medicine using stem cells. The opening plenary session will feature an overview of hematopoietic stem cell therapy. This will be followed by four plenary sessions that will highlight cell-based therapies for the treatment of neurological, cardiac, musculoskeletal, and metabolic diseases and disorders. It will close with a presentation on induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) and the issues that need to be addressed to enable their potential use in cell-based therapies.

When: Tuesday, May 6, 2008, 8 a.m. to 5: 30 p.m.

Where: Natcher Conference Center, NIH Campus

For attendance details, click here.