Stem Cells Extend Six-Year Old's Life

A six-year old boy with Batten disease has received a life-extending proceedure that reversed the effects of his disease with a treatment from the stem cells from an aborted fetus. Here's a quote:

McGlynn said the injections Daniel received were "highly purified" stem cells selected for their ability to obey commands from the brain to replace damaged cells. McGlynn said previous transplants were crude by comparison because those researchers simply injected fetal brain tissue with little selectivity of needed cells.

Batten disease is caused when defective genes fail to make enzymes needed to dispose of waste made by brain cells. The waste piles up in the brain and kills healthy cells until the patient dies. Most victims die before they reach their teens.

The company's idea is to inject the sick kids with healthy, fetal neural stem cells that will "engraft" in the brain, which will direct the new cells to turn into cells able to produce the missing enzymes.