Lab-Grown Brain Cells May Aid in Transplants
From Times Staff and Wire Reports
Scientists reported Monday that they had found a way to identify master cells in the brains of mice and grow them in large batches -- a potential way to help patients grow their own brain tissue transplants.
The scientists, writing in this week’s Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, said they found a process to make the cells multiply, which would be crucial in fighting degenerative brain diseases such as Parkinson’s and Huntington’s. These stem cells could come from a patient, eliminating the need for a donor and drugs to suppress the immune system.
