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Japanese scientists announced Monday that they will begin clinical trials on a new treatment for Parkinson's disease by reprogramming transplanted stem cells into the brain.
Parkinson's disease is caused by a lack of dopamine in the brain and researchers have long hoped to use stem cells to restore normal neurotransmitter production.
Clinical studies come after scientists from Kyoto University in Japan successfully used pluripotent stem cells induced to restore functional cells in monkeys last year.
Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells (iPS) are made by removing mature stem cells from an individual – most often from skin or blood – and reprogramming them to act as embryonic stem cells. The latter could be transformed into dopamine-producing stem cells
"This will be the first clinical trial in the world to use pluripotent stem cells induced in Parkinson's disease," said Jun Takahashi, a professor at the Center's cellular research center. # 39; University. Kyoto.
The center is directed by Shinya Yamanaka, who received a Nobel Prize in 2012 with British researcher John Gurdon in 2012, after discovering that adult cells can be transformed into embryonic cells.
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