Human stem cells used to cure brain disorder

clipped from www.nature.com Success in mice could be a breakthrough for disorders such as multiple sclerosis. Human stem cells have been used to correct abnormal brain development in mice with fatal brain disorders, offering hope for treating a range of neurological disorders including some deadly childhood genetic diseases. Those behind the new treatment hope that human clinical trials could be just a few years away. The treatment uses human glial progenitor cells — cells that can differentiate into the glial cells that, among other things, make up myelin. Myelin, a protein that insulates the long 'arms' of nerve cells, called axons, helps the conduction of neural signals throughout the nervous system. The breakthrough is “stunning”, says Ian Duncan, who studies myelin at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The work will have greatest relevance in treating congenital childhood diseases, he says, although he warns that a practical therapy is still some way away. ”This is a therapy for the future,” he says.