Source: San Jose Mercury News
Posted: June 8, 2009 11:37:55 AM PDT
Updated: June 8, 2009 108:30:14 PM PDT
Summary:
The San Jose Mercury News reports StemCells Inc., a biotechnology company in the field of stem cell research, announced that its stem cell treatment for a rare and fatal brain disorder has no dangerous side effects in patients with the disorder:
"An experimental stem-cell treatment developed by StemCells of Palo Alto has shown no dangerous side effects after being injected into six children with a rare and as-yet always fatal brain disorder, the company said Monday. The groundbreaking study begun in 2006 involves children suffering from Batten disease, a heretofore incurable malady that often causes its mostly young victims to suffer seizures and blindness before killing them."
Details of the treatment procedure are described below:
"The ailment results from a defective gene that fails to create an enzyme the brain needs to dispose of cellular waste. The waste piles up and kills healthy cells until the patients die, typically before they reach their teens. By injecting fetal stem cells into the children's brains, researchers hope the cells will help the brains produce the missing enzyme. In the study, approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and involving children in advanced stages of the disease, the stem cells "were well tolerated by all six patients" and produced no ill effects, the company said in a prepared statement."
