Some company background information: Geron Corporation -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Geron Corporation 200 Constitution Drive Menlo Park, CA 94025 Phone: 415/473-7700 Fax: 415/473-7701 Email contact: info@geron.com About Geron Corporation: Geron Corporation is the first biopharmaceutical company to focus exclusively on the development of therapeutic products of aging, including cancer. Geron's ability to address a diversity of age-related diseases states is based on insights into the fundamental biological mechanisms of cellular aging - and conversely, into the process by which cancer cells escape "aging" by becoming "immortal". Geron believes that many diseases of aging are due primarily to genetically programmed aging, or senescence, of cells in the various bodily tissues. Geron and its collaborators have pioneered the understanding of the genetic "clock" of cellular senescence. The clocking mechanism consists of telomeres - repeated DNA sequences found at the ends of chromosomes. Telomeres shorten each time a cell divides until they reach a critically short length which is associated with the onset of cell senescence. At the opposite extreme, the age-related disease of cancer occurs because of the failure of cells to senesce owing to mutations that confer replicative immortality. Geron's research programs seek to intervene with the fundamental mechanisms underlying age-related disease through modulation of cell senescence. Further, Geron seeks to develop therapeutics to treat cancer by inhibiting the immortalizing enzyme telomerase. Geron has raised $43 million to-date from leading private investors including Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers, Venrock Associates, CW Group, Oxford Venture Partners, Domain Associates, and Biotechnology Investments, Ltd. Number of employees: 90 Founded: 1992 Contact person for company: Ms. Jeryl Hilleman Vice President, Operations Phone: 415/473-7700 Fax: 415/473-7701 Email: jhilleman@geron.com Contact for BIO Online: Mr. Jeryl Hilleman Vice President, Operations Phone: 415/473-7700 Fax: 415/473-7701 Email: jhilleman@geron.com

From the company press release: EXTENSION OF HUMAN CELL LIFE-SPAN REPORTED IN SCIENCE Telomerase Rewinds the Clock of Cell Aging Menlo Park, CA -- January 13, 1998 -- Geron Corporation (NASDAQ:GERN) and the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas reported today the successful extension of the life-span of normal human cells using the enzyme telomerase. In a paper published in the journal Science, January 16, 1998, scientists explain that the introduction of an active telomerase gene into normal mortal cells resulted in the lengthening of telomeres and a marked increase in the life-span of the cells, making the cells potentially immortal. "This paper is a monumental advance in the understanding of the molecular genetics of aging," remarked Leonard Hayflick, Ph.D., professor of anatomy at the University of California, San Francisco, School of Medicine and the discoverer of human cellular aging. "The telomerase gene will likely have many important applications in the future of medicine and cell engineering." Telomerase is an "immortalizing" enzyme that imparts replicative immortality when expressed in reproductive and cancer cells. Conversely, cells that do not express the enzyme are mortal. The gene for the telomerase protein was recently isolated by Geron and collaborators at the University of Colorado at Boulder. Previous research by Geron and its collaborators has shown that the aging of mortal cells appears to be controlled by a molecular clock consisting of telomeres - a chain of repeated DNA segments found at the ends of the chromosomes. Each time a mortal cell divides, a small segment of telomeric DNA is lost, and in the absence of telomerase, the shortened telomeres signal the cell to become senescent and stop dividing. Cells that have no replicative limit, such as reproductive cells, express telomerase, which synthesizes telomeres, allowing replicative immortality. Telomeres can therefore be envisioned as "molecular clocks" that limit the life-span of cells, and telomerase can be envisioned as the "key" that "rewinds" the telomere clocks. In the report today in Science, researchers at Geron Corporation and the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas collaborated to test the effects of the immortalizing gene. "We couldn't be more excited about the results," stated Woodring E. Wright, M.D., Ph.D., professor in the Department of Cell Biology and Neuroscience at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas and one of the senior authors of the paper, "I think this finally nails down the fundamental cause of cell aging, and provides a direct means of altering the clock of cell aging for therapeutic effect." Geron is exploring applications of the telomerase gene to extend the life-span of many different types of human cells, including skin cells, blood vessel endothelial cells, retinal cells, immune cells, and others. "We believe that the extension and perhaps immortalization of human cells will have many important applications for the treatment of age-related diseases," remarked Calvin B. Harley, Ph.D. chief scientific officer at Geron. In addition to its role in aging, telomerase has previously been shown to be abnormally active in all types of cancer examined and not expressed in most normal tissues. Telomerase is therefore thought to be unique among anti-cancer targets because it is universal across cancers and highly specific to cancer cells. Because telomerase is required for cancer cells to proliferate indefinitely, Geron is seeking to discover compounds designed to inhibit telomerase. Such drugs are expected to lead to the death of the cancer cells through resumed telomere shortening, with little to no effect expected on normal body cells and tissues. Significantly, the expression of telomerase in normal mortal cells extends their life-span without transforming them into malignant cancer cells, demonstrating that telomerase makes tumor cells immortal, but that other genetic alterations are responsible for the malignant characteristics of cancer cells. "This is the best of all outcomes from our perspective" said Ronald Eastman, Geron's chief executive officer. "These results suggest that we have a gene that is both an important target for cancer and for the treatment of age-related disease." Senior authors of the Science article, "Extension of Life-Span by Introduction of Telomerase into Normal Human Cells" are Dr. Woodring E. Wright from University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas and Dr. Serge Lichtsteiner of Geron Corporation. Co-authors from Dr. Wright's group include Drs. Shawn E. Holt, Michel Ouellette, and Jerry W. Shay. Co-authors from Geron are Drs. Andrea G. Bodnar, Choy-Pik Chiu, Maria Frolkis, Calvin B. Harley, and Gregg B. Morin. Geron Corporation is a biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering and developing therapeutic and diagnostic products to treat cancer and other age-related diseases based upon the company's understanding of telomeres and telomerase, fundamental biological mechanisms underlying aging and cancer. # # # Contact: Geron Corporation Tel: 650-473-7700 Media Inquiries Carole Melis Mike Jackman CLM Communications Tel: 650-342-5686 Investor Inquiries Lisa Burns Burns McClellan John Nugent Tel: 212-213-0006 Photos and illustrations are available upon request. To receive an index and copies of recent releases, call Geron's News-On-Demand toll free fax service, 1-800-782-3279. Note: This release moved over Business Wire January 13, 1998. The company desires to take advantage of the "safe harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Specifically, the company wishes to alert readers the matters discussed in this press release may constitute certain forward-looking statements that are dependent on certain risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from the results anticipated in these forward-looking statements. Additional information on potential factors that could affect the company's results are included in the company's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 1997.

What are the ramifications of living 20 to 40% longer than we expected to? Does that mean I won't get to retire til I've put my great-grandchildren through college? Then will I have to do daycare for their kids? I bet the Social Security Administration is thrilled about the concept of telomeres...

I'll bet the Health Care system is paving a new road to the bank! The longer you live, the higher your chances of having an accident or major illness, and, that means more money for the HMOs.Of course, if you're not dependent on Western medicine, then, all the more better for you. But, the Average American is, and, the insurance companies will be delighted to collect from any "long-lifers"!

One more remark regarding the elimination of cancer; sit quietly and ponder this, for a moment.....think of all the Cancer Clinics, physicians, and healthcare staff who have devoted their whole careers to caring for patients with cancer, all across this country.Now...imagine what that ratio of jobless people would do the economy....Who do you think would prevail? All of the population who would love to see this disease totally eliminated, or...."them"?

Yeah, it's like the way they could make a light bulb that never burns out, but they won't.

This needs an update!

So, what's going on in the field of telemeurs?