The US Food and Drug Administration approved biotech firm Geron's application to conduct a clinical trial of a human embryonic stem cell therapy. The decision came days after President Obama was inaugurated though Geron and FDA representatives say the timing is coincidental. Technology Review reports that the trial will include eight patients with new spinal-cord injuries and that they will be given GRNOPC1. GRNOPC1 is made by transforming ESCs into oligodendrocytes, which are cells that help electrical messages to be passed along nerves. The hope is that injecting these cells into injured sites would restore lost nerve function.