Japanese scientists will use "reprogrammed" stem cells for Parkinson's disease

Japanese scientists said Monday that clinical trials of a treatment for Parkinson's disease will begin next month, transplanting "reprogrammed" stem cells into the patients' brains.

Parkinson's is a neurodegenerative disorder caused by a lack of dopamine, a neurotransmitter produced by neurons

Last year, researchers at the Kyoto University successfully used induced pluripotent stem cells by man (IPS) to restore the functioning of neurons in monkeys.

IPS cells are generated by removing mature cells from an individual – often from skin or blood – and reprogramming them to behave like embryonic stem cells, which can cause the production of dopamine.

"This will be the first clinical trial in the world that uses iPS cells for Parkinson's disease," said Jun Takahashi, a professor at the Kyoto University's Center for Research and Application of iPS Cells, at the University of Kyoto. # 39; a press conference

The Center is led by Shinya Yamanaka, who won the 2012 Nobel Prize in Medicine with the British John Gurdon after discovering that mature cells The fact that clinical trials use iPS at Human embryonic cell location implies that the treatment would be acceptable in countries like Ireland and in much of Latin America, where it is forbidden to use embryonic cells.