Discovery: Neurons can be produced via skin cells

Diseases like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's destroy the lives of the afflicted and their loved ones. Cures elude the greatest medical minds, but a recent breakthrough may change that, reports The Independent. Professionals have now made human neurons from skin cells. Post resource - Scientists create neurons from skin cells without stem cells by Newsytype.com.

A huge step closer to the cure

Pathologist Dr. Gerald Crabtree and researchers at Stanford University Healthcare Center in Palo Alto, Calif., used skin cells via a 30-year-old woman to create nerve cells close to neurons that are found in the brain. Stem cells can be avoided completely. This is done by adding RNA to the sample instead.

The skin cell breakthrough could very well lead to new brain cell creations. This might lead to the remedy for neurological diseases such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's. Spine and brain become destroyed and are very difficult to treat. It may be possible to treat them now.

"A major problem in neurobiology has been the lack of a good human model. Neurons aren't like blood. They're not something people want to give up," Crabtree said.

Even more with pluripotent stem cells

Genetically modified skin cells were taken and converted into pluripotent stem cells in the past, just like embryonic stem cells were. This will help produce neurons. It works pretty well. The journal Nature has Crabtree's publication that shows how adding "two shorts strands of RNA" makes the difference.

"It was very weird. We were astounded," said Crabtree. "What we made are neurons that are characteristic of the frontal cortex (of the brain) - what you'd imagine would be the most difficult (nerve cells) to make. They're the ones we think with, that we use to put two things together and see the connections, not the ones involved in evolutionary older emotional responses."

It will be a long time before neuron cells such as this will actually be implanted in brains and spines. Still, it is very encouraging that there are so many possibilities, Crabtree says.

This video clip shows it all

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nf36Jk03tY8

Information from

The Independent

ind.pn/qPkRPk

Induced pluripotent stem cell Wiki

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Induced_pluripotent_stem_cell