I was very glad to read of the research done by Stefano Pluchino with adult-mouse stem cells. I am, however, terribly disappointed with his comment that therapeutic trials in humans are 4 to 5 years away. As someone with multiple sclerosis and a scientific background, I see no reason why the timetable can’t be moved up.

Lauri Riley Dowling
Valley Glen, Calif
.

In our interview, Pluchino, of the San Raffaele Scientific Institute in Milan, Italy, suggested that researchers need 4 to 5 years to know whether adult neural stem cells will have anti-inflammatory effects in people, not that it will take 4 to 5 years before a human trial to determine that will start .—N. Moreira