Xenotransplantation, Neurodegeneration

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The field of xenotransplantation has been somewhat eclipsed in the popular view by the advance of stem cell based regenerative medicine, but work continues - such as that reported here by the New Scientist. "Pig brain cells could be implanted into human brains by the start of next year if trials of a pioneering treatment for Huntington's disease are approved in the US. Similar tests on primates have proved 'astonishingly successful' in treating the degenerative brain disease." The pig cells do not replace human neurons; instead they repair damage to the cellular environment caused by progressive neurodegeneration. Huntington's is not an age-related condition per se, but this general strategy looks promising for other, much more common neurodegenerative diseases.

Link: http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=mg18725124.400