8 February 2012
Last updated at 02:57 ET
Abnormal accumulations of protein develop inside nerve cells in Parkinson’s disease
Scientists in the US have successfully made human brain cells in the lab that are an exact replica of genetically caused Parkinson’s disease.
The breakthrough means they can now see exactly how mutations in the parkin gene cause the disease in an estimated one in 10 patients with Parkinson’s.
And it offers a realistic model to test new treatments on – a hurdle that has blighted research efforts until now.
The team told Nature Communications their work was a “game-changer”.
Lab-grown
“This is the first time that human dopamine neurons have ever been generated from Parkinson’s disease patients with parkin mutations,” said Dr Jian Feng who led the investigations.
“Before this, we didn’t even think about being able to study the disease in human neurons.
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