Cloned Stem Cells Treat Parkinson's In Mice

While it has long been hoped that stem cell research would lead to a Parkinson's cure, scientists recently added another step to the process, which seems to make stem cells more effective in treating Parkinson's in mice: Cloning. Reuters reported Sunday that cloned embryonic stem cells were found to be more effective and less disruptive to the bodies of mice, as opposed to embryonic stem cells that were not genetically matched to each mouse by cloning.

Viviane Tabar and his team first created a Parkinson's-like disease in mice using chemicals to destroy their brain cells. They then took ordinary cells from the tails of the mice, transferred the nuclei from them into hollowed-out mouse eggs cells, and made clones of the mice. This process is called somatic cell nuclear transfer, or "therapeutic cloning".

The cloned embryos were harvested for their stem cells after a few days. The researchers grew these in the lab and coaxed them into becoming the so-called dopaminergic brains cells that are lost in Parkinson's.

They put these into the brains of the injured mice. These mice got better, Tabar said. No one has done this before. "It's incredibly hard and it involves a series of inefficient steps," Tabar said.

The process of using cloned stem cells for therapeutic purposes may eventually help to solve some of the ethical concerns surrounding stem cell research, while providing stem cells that will not cause as much inflammation in the bodies of patients.

Mouse Photo by Bas van de Wiel. Photo shows a white mouse inside a coconut shell.