Injecting neurons derived from human embryonic stem cells into rats suffering from Parkinson's-like symptoms allowed the animals to regain movement, according to a study led by neurologist Steven Goldman of the University of Rochester Medical Center. The downside is that the transplanted cells also fostered the growth of benign brain tumors.
Goldman's work builds on previous studies that explored the developmental cues involved in directing an embryonic stem cell to become a functioning neuron. He improved the technique by culturing the stem cells with astrocytes, cells that guide the maturing neurons, that he had taken from the dopamine-producing region of the rat brain. Up to 80 percent of the stem cells cultivated this way then began functioning like dopamine-producing neurons, Goldman reported in November in the journal Nature Medicine. When injected into rats with an artificially induced form of Parkinson's, the cells worked, as demonstrated by the animals' renewed ability to move.
http://www.discover.com/issues/jan-0...ine/?page=3#44
All the more reason to allow stem cell research. I wonder what the people that are against this research will say when they are afflicted with one of these diseases that could be cured by this research.