Scientists from the National Institutes of Health stem cell research task force have managed to coax human embryonic stem cells (hESC’s) to mature into cells that resemble neurons “in every way.” Chair of the task force, Dr James Battey, told members of an NIH advisory panel that the as yet unpublished research that “there has been some rather notable progress made.” While it is still too early to tell whether the cells would function correctly if implanted into the brain, laboratory tests have shown that the cells look exactly like dopamine-producing mid-brain cells (the cells that are destroyed in Parkinson’s disease), and can fire the electrical impulses that neurons use to communicate with each other.
SOURCE/REFERENCE: Reported by www.reutershealth.com on the 30th June 2003.
