The following is an amazing discovery described in the
ScienceDaily. Researchers at the Case Western Reserve School of Medicine have actually found a way to turn skin cells into functioning brain cells. This is help many patients whose brain cells get destroyed with conditions such as multiple sclerosis, cerebral palsy, and other myelin disorders. The technique involves coverting fibroblasts, which are present in most organs and skin, into
oligodendrocytes, which are responsible for myelinating the neurons of the brain by manipulating proteins. They call is cellular reprogramming. The initial study used mouse cells, and their next step is to see how safe it is for humans. This finding a real breakthrough and can be used to treat a variety of genetic myelin disorders. There is not much other information on the study because it has only been done on mice. They get closer and close to making it safe for humans everyday.
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I think this is an astounding discovery that deserves great merit. It would help so many patients if and when it is available as a plausible treatment for myelin degeneration. When further studies are done in the field I would love to read about it, and I hope for the best.
Wow! These findings in mouse cells for cellular programming are quite significant if they can replicate it in human cells. This is something in which I will have to keep an eye out for, because my mother actually suffers from MS and this is something that could potentially effect her quality of life.
ReplyDeleteThis is a crazy thought that something so abundent as skin cells could be used to treat people with diseases such as this. However, I think that after conversion these cells would be much more suseptible to mutations or even developing into cancer cells.
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