The field of cell therapy, which aims to form new cells in
the body in order to cure disease, has taken another important step in the
development towards new treatments. A new report from researchers at Lund
University in Sweden shows that it is possible to re-programme other cells to
become nerve cells, directly in the brain.
Two years ago, researchers in Lund were the first in the
world to re-programme human skin cells, known as fibroblasts, to
dopamine-producing nerve cells – without taking a detour via the stem cell
stage. The research group has now gone a step further and shown that it is
possible to re-programme both skin cells and support cells directly to nerve
cells, in place in the brain.