British scientists have been given permission to treat stroke
patients with injections of cells from an aborted baby, it emerged
last night.
In a world first, stem cells from a 12-week-old foetus will
be injected into patients' brains.
Experts believe the cells will regenerate areas damaged by strokes
and restore movement and mental skills.
But anti-abortion groups condemned the trials as 'sick' and
said it was barbaric for society to use aborted foetuses this
way.
A quarter of a million Britons have a severe disability caused
by a stroke.
Until now there has been no way of repairing the damage created
when the brain is starved of oxygen.
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In the two-year trial, starting next year, four groups of three
patients will be given stem cells developed by the biotech company
ReNeuron in Surrey.
The 'blank cells' can turn into any type of human tissue. The
ones needed for the trial havebeen grown in culture after they
were taken from a foetus's brain.
ReNeuron could use cells from an adult, but says foetal cells
are more adaptable.
