Scientists from the National Institutes of Health have reversed the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease in rats using stem cells from mouse embryos. Another team of scientists from the University of Minnesota Medical School has isolated a stem cell from adult human bone marrow that can produce all the tissue types in the body, from blood to muscle to nerve.

The new reports may re-fuel the debate in the US Senate over whether to permit the cloning of human embryos for medical research.
Both papers are available free on the Nature site (registration required).

McKay, R. et al. Dopamine neurons derived from embryonic stem cells function in an animal model of Parkinson’s disease. Nature, 417, published online 20 June; doi:10.1038/nature00900, (2002).

Verfaille, C.M. et al. Pluripotency of mesenchymal stem cells derived from adult marrow . Nature, 417, published online 20 June; doi:10.1038/nature00870 (2002).