The Korea Times reported that Olle Lindvall, a professor of Lund University in Sweden and a brain cell therapist, made the prediction on Thursday in Seoul. Lindvall is in the South Korean capital attending a symposium on stem cell research at the Korea University.
Lindvall said Parkinson's disease, which impairs physical movement and speech, is among the diseases where stem cells can be applied as treatment. He said the clinical trial of this approach can be started within five years as many institutions in the world are now trying to produce dopamine cell from different types of stem cells, including those from animals.
The professor said he has tried transplanting dopamine cells extracted from human fetuses into the brain and saw they can survive. In the technique, the injected stem cells will grow and replace or reinforce damaged cells.
The Swedish professor said there had been previous stem cell research involving Parkinson's disease patients. The human tissues transplanted to the brain eased the effects of the disease, but did not completely cure it.
