Skin cells used to treat neurodegenerative disease

In new work that has both political as well as scientific implications, a team of scientists has been able to reprogram skin cells into functioning neurons and used them to eliminate symptoms of Parkinson's disease. This is the first time that reprogrammed cells have addressed a neurodegenerative disease, Marius Wernig, a scientist at the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, tells the Boston Globe. In the animal study, rats bred to develop symptoms of Parkinson's were given transplants of normal neurons derived from skin cells. After the therapy, eight of the nine rats stopped walking in an endless circling pattern, indicating a clear improvement.

"This shows that (reprogrammed) cells are able to function in the therapeutic manner that people have ascribed to them," said Rudolf Jaenisch, the pioneering Whitehead and MIT stem cell scientist who oversaw the work. "These cells are more readily available and much less controversial than embryonic stem cells. But they seem to have identical potential."

- read the article in the Boston Globe
- check out the report in MIT Technology Review

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