In new and startling research, the cells that were created from skin were used to treat the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease.
Researchers from MIT, and Cambridge University revealed that they have taken the stem cells made from skin, and then treated symptoms of Parkinson disease.
The ongoing research was reported in the National Academy of Sciences Proceedings Journal online, and may someday lead to treatment of human patients that have Parkinson’s disease.
According to researchers at MIT, stem cells derived from skin cells were used to treat Parkinson’s disease in rats. This research is considered seminal and will shed a lot of light on the ongoing usage of skin-derived stem cells.
Japanese and U.S. researchers announced late last year that normal cells from the skin had been reprogrammed into acting like embryonic type stem cells. These cells from the Whitehead Institute were found at that time to be successful in treating sickle cell anemia in rats.
The discovery by MIT and Cambridge University also involved the cells from the Whitehead Lab. The nerve cells that the new reprogrammed skin cells yielded were used in the brains of rats and showed promise in treating Parkinson’s and other similar brain conditions.