Exciting news on the induced pluripotent stem cell front! Skin cells from a patient with Parkison’s disease were transformed into stem cells that formed dopaminergic progenitor cells. These dopamine-producing cells were transplanted into the patient’s brain which resulted in stabilized or improved symptoms 18-24 months later. Parkinson’s disease is the second most common neurodegenerative disease and results in a loss of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra brain region causing loss of motor control, balance, and other problems. There is currently no pharmaceutical treatment that can delay the progression of Parkinson’s disease. Current treatments can help symptoms but do not delay the progression. High-intensity exercise is the only treatment that I know of that has been shown to delay the progression of this degenerative disease (more to come on this very soon). The potential to delay the progression with induced pluripotent stem cells has been emerging for several years. A pluripotent stem cell is a stem cell that can form any cell type in the body including neurons. An induced pluripotent stem cell is a stem cell that is formed from another already adult cell type usually a skin cell. This new preliminary study found that a patient’s skin cells could be used to form induced pluripotent stem cells which then were transformed into dopaminergic progenitor cells. Those dopaminergic progenitor cells were transplanted into two brain regions. Brain imaging revealed an increase in dopamine in those brain regions 18-24 months later. Clinical symptoms also stabilized or improved. This is an exciting pilot study that needs to be confirmed in larger trials!