The Independent reports on continuing efforts to develop stem cell based regenerative therapies for nerve damage: "Scientists have shown that human stem cells can be used to treat laboratory rats suffering from the same degeneration of the nerve cells in the spinal cord and brain that causes motor neurone disease in people. ... rats with the live cell transplants were able to retain their muscle control for longer than the second group of controls. A microscopic investigation showed that 70 per cent of the injected stem cells had developed into nerve cells and many of those grew nerve endings connecting to other cells in the rat's spinal cords. ... These stem cells differentiate massively into neurones - a pleasant surprise given that the spinal cord has long been considered an environment unfavourable to this type of transformation."

Link: http://news.independent.co.uk/world/science_technology/article1876678.ece