US scientists say that cloned cells have cured mice with a Parkinson’s-like disease. Lorenz Studer of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York and colleagues coaxed embryonic stem cells obtained from cloned embryos to transform into dopamine-producing brain cells &endash; the cells that are destroyed in Parkinson’s. The researchers then transplanted the dopamine-producing cells into the brains of mice with experimentally-induced Parkinson’s-like brain damage. Results showed that the symptoms of the mice gradually improved. Furthermore, examination of the animals’ brains revealed that the transplanted cells had developed into healthy colonies. The researchers say that the results are promising and provide a sound basis for further studies on therapeutic cloning.
SOURCE/REFERENCE: Reported by www.reutershealth.com on the 22nd September 2003.
