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In a surgical procedure last month, neurosurgeons from Kyoto University implanted 2.4 million cells into the brain of a patient with Parkinson’s disease. The cells—derived from peripheral blood cells of an anonymous donor—had been reprogrammed into induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) and then into dopaminergic precursor cells, which researchers hope will boost dopamine levels and ameliorate the patient’s symptoms.
The procedure is the most recent attempt by clinicians to test whether iPSCs can treat disease. In recent years, Japanese scientists have launched several clinical studies to examine their efficacy in heart disease and macular degeneration of the eye. And other researchers around the globe are exploring ways to turn the cells into treatments for everything from endometriosis to spinal cord injury. The initial foray into clinical trials raises hopes that the technology will bear fruit 12 years after its Nobel Prize–winning discovery.
“I’m excited that they’re ...
