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To: Dale Baker who wrote (14317)	1/11/2000 2:47:00 AM
From: johnsto1	Respond to of 118717

GERN...freaky stem cell cloning warrenhoss by: mrd57 (22/M) 1/10/00 8:17 pm Msg: 11031 of 11044 I have been reading and researching Geron's science before Geron was a company. Back in 1992 I began reading about the telomerase research coming out of Cold Spring Harbor, the scientists who eventually founded Geron. I also work in biotech at New England BioLabs. I couldn't agree with you more about the potential of Geron's science. It has been my favorite stock now for 5 years. About the science: 1) Geron seems to have telomerase locked up with their patents. My only concern with telomerase is whether total bodily telomerase inhibition as a cancer treatment might be toxic. I know germ line cells express telomerase as well as small amounts in the stomach lining, etc. And what about the body's own stem cells? Would these be affected as well? If it turns out that this is the case then future drugs would have to be targeted only to certain areas of the body which may prove difficult. 2) I agree the uses of stem cells are practically limitless and have no question of their therepeutic potential. However, Geron does not have this area locked up like telomerase. There are several other competitors such as cytotherepeutics, genzyme transgenics, etc who also have their foot in the door. Do we know who the leader is and how well protected Geron is in this field? 3) Cloning. This is an area which I'm unsure about. Other than splitting an embryo, is there any method of cloning that will not eventually require the use of Geron's telomerase patent. For example, Dolly was presumed to have been born old because she was cloned from an adult sheep whose telomere's were already shortened. Genzyme Transgenics is a major competitor to Roslin (maybe not in cloning but in the use of transgenic animals) as I have been reading. So the question is, who will dominate this space?