Cell breakthrough sparks hope of treatments for brain diseases

Published on Tuesday 14 June 2005 12:39

SCIENTISTS have grown fully mature brain cells for the first time in a breakthrough which may spark new treatments for brain diseases such as epilepsy, Parkinson's or dementia.

Working at Florida University, the scientists were able to produce virtually unlimited numbers of brain cells which could revolutionise transplant medicine. They said the breakthrough could also lead to new drugs to stimulate the regrowth of damaged nerves.

The study was carried out on mice, but the team believe they will soon be able to do the same with human brain cells.

Published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, the strength of the study lay in its ability to identify potential stem cells that have the power to grow into adult brain cells.

Bjorn Scheffler, a neuroscientist who created the cells in Florida, said: "Our study shows for the first time the entire process that goes on in our brain for life. We can, in a dish, recapture the process in front of our eyes.

"Now we can make a lot of brain cells from just a very small number of these stem cells, which is great because we'd have to do that to repair neurological disease.

"I'm quite optimistic we will translate this to human therapeutics in the very near future."