Embryonic Stem Cells Versus Stroke Damage

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Via EurekAlert!, work on repairing neural damage following stroke: "Neural cells derived from human embryonic stem cells helped repair stroke-related damage in the brains of rats and led to improvements in their physical abilities ... [researchers hope] the cells from this study can be used in human stroke trials within five years. ... At the end of two months, the cells had migrated to the damaged brain region and incorporated into the surrounding tissue. None of those transplanted cells formed tumors. Once in place, the replacement cells helped repair damage from the induced stroke. The researchers mimicked a stroke in a region of the brain that left one forelimb weak. This model parallels the kinds of difficulties people experience after a stroke. Testing at four weeks and again at eight weeks after the stem cell transplants showed the animals were able to use their forelimbs more normally than rats with similarly damaged brain regions that had not received the transplants."

Link: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-02/plos-hsc021808.php