The study introduces the neurons that release dopamine in the brain

This whole length was, in fact, necessary. After all, guided by the images, the doctor will make this pair delve deeper, until they reach an area of ​​the brain, where there are what anatomists call the basal nuclei. The correct title was one of them more specifically, the so-called PutamenWhich is like a miniature college. There, a very special delivery will be made.

In five of the 12 patients, about 900,000 cells were shed on each side of the putamen to replace lost neurons. Not just any neurons, but those capable of producing a molecule called dopamine, which is an essential neural messenger for the expression of our movements.

In the other seven individuals, the battalion of cells injected to the left and right of the putamen was much larger: 2.7 million dopaminergic neurons, created from embryonic stem cells at the laboratories of BlueRock Therapeutics, in Boston, USA.

The company is entirely dedicated to developing cell therapies, that is, treatments capable of completely replacing cells that have been completely destroyed for some reason. In 2019, it was purchased by Bayer, becoming a subsidiary of the German pharmaceutical company, although it operates independently.

From stem cells

“Embryonic stem cells are a blank slate.”, compares molecular biologist Seth Ettenberg, president and CEO of BlueRock. “Remember, at the beginning of life, an embryo is just a bunch of cells, all identical to each other. But then they differentiate to form every type of cell in our body. In fact, they can be everything! And here, in our lab, we make them become the cell.” Which we want exactly and then we produce in huge quantities.”