Stem cell breakthrough for Alzheimer’s

The stem cell breakthrough has been hailed as an important advance in Alzheimer’s research, allowing a limitless supply of neurons on which to test new drugs.

Potentially the work could also pave the way to cell treatments – transplanting healthy lab-grown neurons into the brains of patients.

The British charity Alzheimer’s Society called the research “a major step forward in developing treatments for Alzheimer’s”.

Scientists at Northwestern University in Chicago produced the neurons from stem cells extracted from early-stage human embryos. Embryonic stem cells have the potential to develop into virtually any kind of tissue in the body.