Stem Cell Treatment Found Effective For Rare Brain Disorder 43
sciencehabit writes "Four young boys with a rare, fatal brain condition have made it through a dangerous ordeal. Scientists have safely transplanted human neural stem cells into their brains. Twelve months after the surgeries, the boys have more myelin—a fatty insulating protein that coats nerve fibers and speeds up electric signals between neurons—and show improved brain function, a new study in Science Translational Medicine reports. The preliminary trial paves the way for future research into potential stem cell treatments for the disorder, which overlaps with more common diseases such as Parkinson's disease and multiple sclerosis."
Re:Flowers For Algernon (Score:5, Informative)
These boys were said to have taken immunosuppressants for nine months before beinig injected with the stem cells. Given this, and that the disorder is genetic, I'm assuming the stem cells are from an external source.
From the Fine Linked Article, the stem cells were allogenic - ie, not from the patient.
Since the stem cells are turning into neurons, I wonder how this will affect them in the future. Would the neurons remain without immunosuppressants? Or would the boys slowly lose these foreign cells growing up, and ultimately revert back to their original selves.
Good question, likely they will be on suppressants the rest of their lives.
The nervous sytem is a dangerous thing to manipulate. The effects could range from nothing to the boys taking on traits of their donor. While it's great stem cells can provide relief for this disorder, I hesitate to call it a cure. And if things go south later in their lives, it may very well be a curse.
That's why they are doing this on an invariably fatal disease. They are going to die of this disease (and quite early on IIRC) without treatment. So it is considered a 'compassionate' protocol (not withstanding philosophical discussions on whether or not this really is a compassionate thing to do). So you get to do things that are much more dangerous than your average clinical trial. But this really is the only way to approach it - well, the only way our consistent with current ethical guidelines in the US.
Re:Flowers For Algernon (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Once again (Score:4, Informative)