'Blank' stem cells showing promise

Could quiet debate on embryos
By Colin Nickerson
Globe Staff / April 8, 2008

Cambridge scientists have used stem cells that were "reprogrammed" from ordinary skin cells to alleviate symptoms of Parkinson's disease in rodents, illustrating the vast medical potential of this new type of stem cell.

In the study, rats whose midbrains were damaged in a way to closely mimic Parkinson's received transplants of healthy neurons cultivated from reprogrammed stem cells. These are basically biological "blank slates" that are believed to have the same capacity as embryonic stem cells to be turned into nerves, organs, bloods, bone, or any other cell type. the rest