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Geron corporation - does the name say it all?

Friday, January 23, 2009, 17:41 - Ancient Greek Language
Posted by Administrator
I have previously written about the use of ancient languages in modern company names: Company names: never boring!. So, here comes another one. Geron.

Geron is a Greek word that literally means "old one", "old man", "Elder". If you ask me, a pretty strange image for a company. Wouldn't one rather see the ideas of innovation and modernity to be oozing from a company that has anything to do with technology. According the the company website, "Geron is developing first-in-class biopharmaceuticals for the treatment of cancer and chronic degenerative diseases, including spinal cord injury, heart failure and diabetes." I have to assume that their initial interest in the name was influenced by the term "gerontology", but there is something nefarious in the face of the old man that appears in the company's promotional materials. The company's role in stem-cell research thus becomes something straight from sci-fi: (white) old men preying on the young. Well, we shall see...


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