ALZHEIMER’S patients could soon have their memory restored with a transplant.
The breakthrough comes after scientists worked out how to grow brain cells in a lab.
The cells, known as neurons, work just like the originals. And yesterday the man behind the discovery revealed he was on a personal mission.
Christopher Bissonnette was just a child when his beloved grand-father died of the disease.
He said: “I watched the disease slowly and relentlessly destroy his memory and individuality, and I was powerless to help him.
“That experience drove me to become a scientist. I wanted to try to discover new treatments to reverse the damage.
He added: “My goal was to make new healthy replacement cells that could one day be transplanted into a patient’s brain, helping their memory function again.”
The neurons are relatively few in number but play a crucial role in helping to retrieve memories. In early Alzheimer’s the ability to recall is lost, not the memories themselves.
Dr Bissonnette’s team at Northwestern hospital in Chicago had to grow and test millions of cells to figure out how to turn on the exact genes to make them into the right type.
Researchers have already successfully transplanted the “home-made” nerve cells into mice after perfecting a way to turn skin cells into brain cells.
Calling for more funding into the pioneering project, Prof Clive Ballard, of the Alzheimer’s Society, said: “It’s very exciting. This is a major step forward.”
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