A step closer to theraputic cloning-- treating deseases with the patient's own cells

Science Magazine's news site, ScienceNow, reports that scientists have moved a step closer toward being able to use patients' own cells to treat their diseases. This process is referred to as therapeutic cloning. A team led by neuroscientist Lorenz Studer of the Sloan-Kettering Institute in New York City was able to show that mice with a Parkinson-like movement disorder significantly improved after being implanted with brain cells derived from their own tissue.

The new study is the first to show that cells from a diseased animal can be used to treat the very same animal. The researchers gave mice brain lesions to create a Parkinson-like disorder in which knocked out the use of the neurotransmitter dopamine on one side of their brains, limiting their ability to control paw movements.

To treat the Parkinson-like disorder, the researchers isolated a cell produced in a mouse's ovary called an oocyte, and transferred the nucleus of the mouse's skin cell into the ooctye. These modified cells were grown into early embryos, which were clones of the afflicted mice. Many of these cells grew into dopamine-producing neurons that the scientists could implant to treat the brains of the original donors.

The sick mice treated with their own cells showed a significant improvement in their ability to control paw movements. The improvement only occurred in mice treated with their own cells. link