The Roslin Spinoffs: Building Geron's platform

Geron Corp.'s telomerase technology has been a discovery in search of therapeutic utility since the company was founded in 1992. The company began life focused on aging, and went public in July 1996 on the promise of its telomerase inhibition program to treat cancer. Neither idea has moved beyond the research stage.

With last week's acquisition of Roslin Bio-Med Ltd., GERN has built a suite of technologies that it believes will enable the generation of patient-specific cells and tissues for transplantation to treat a wide variety of diseases. But these opportunities, too, are five to 10 years in the future...