Key points from article :
Lab-grown nerve cells will replace those destroyed by the disease.
Scientists hope treatment may be available in five years.
It is hoped that these will stop the spread of debilitating symptoms.
Early next year, a radical new treatment for Parkinson’s disease involving tissue transplants will receive its first trial with patients.
“It has taken a long time ... offer tissue transplants as standard treatments for Parkinson’s,” said Roger Barker lead author.
In the UK, about 145,000 people live with Parkinson’s and about 18,000 new cases are diagnosed every year.
When dopamine supplies drop, the result is shaking, stiffness, depression and other symptoms.
Scientists have learned to transform lab-grown stem cells into dopamine cells.
“We now know that putting dopamine cells in the brain will work and the procedure is safe,” he added.
They expect that their trials will take at least two years to complete.
The study was carried out at Cambridge University.
