More Progress On Creating Brain Cells
The Australian reports on more progress - to go with the gene therapy advance reported recently - in developing replacement brain cells for those lost to neurodegenerative conditions: "Neurosurgeons withdrew the stem cells from the brains of adults during routine surgery ... As long as an agent was present to induce cell division, the extracted stem cells created new and working brain cells. ... So far we have managed to produce several millions of new cells from the original stem cells. About 25 percent of them are (active) neurons. ... Researchers have long attempted to find ways of replacing dead brain cells with healthy ones in order to reverse the tragic effects of such diseases as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and multiple sclerosis, in which the brain slowly dies."
Link: http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/printpage/0,5942,16074134,00.html