New technique brings Parkinson’s treatment closer
In a step toward using stem cells to treat Parkinson’s disease, scientists in South Korea have developed a consistent and efficient way to convert human embryonic stem cells into dopamine-producing nerve cells.
People with Parkinson’s disease have lost the natural dopamine-making cells from one brain region, resulting in the disease’s characteristic symptoms.
Transplanting the newly made nerve cells into the brains of rats with a Parkinson’s-like condition relieved the rats’ symptoms, the researchers report in the March 4 Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.