Mice to Provide a SMALL Ray of Hope for a Solution to Parkinson’s

Parkinson’s disease have been around since ancient history and also been the bane of many celebrities and famous personalities. While a long list of treatment methods have already been implemented to help relieve the symptoms of the disease, none have been of much success. However, help has arrived in the smallest and most unlikely form: The mice.

Using Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer (SCNT) or therapeutic cloning, dopamine secreting neurons were created and implanted back into the mice to counter the loss of such cells which in this case were deliberately removed.

Following this, a number of mice involved in the experiment were observed to have marked improvement in their movement capabilities, notably the ones which received neurons derived from cell lines that are genetically identical to it. This shows the feasibility of using therapeutic cloning in the treatment of Parkinson’s Diseases.

The findings also represent a breakthrough as it demonstrates the advantage of therapeutic cloning over other treatment methods like neural transplantation. Through SCNT, cells which are genetically identical to the individual are produced, thus minimising the possibility of the transplanted cells being rejected due to immune responses.

This is of particular significance because for the first time, SCNT has been shown to successfully treat a disease in the same subjects from whom the initial cells were derived. The study also reveals the future application of therapeutic cloning in reducing transplant rejection and the treatment of other diseases and organ systems.

By: CHONG Wen Yu

Primary References
http://www.newscientist.com/channel/sex/mg19726493.000-therapeutic-cloning-cures-parkinsons-mice.html
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080323210229.htm

Secondary References
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parkinsons
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Therapeutic_cloning

http://www.nature.com/nm/journal/v14/n4/full/nm1732.html