says a scientific advisor for the Michael J. Fox foundation.

http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news...133_13825.html

"Stem cell therapy will be utilized in treating patients suffering from Parkinson's disease within the next five years, a renowned Swedish expert said during his visit to Seoul.

Olle Lindvall, a professor of Lund University in Sweden, said that the cure for the Parkinson's disease is likely to be one of the first and most effective applications of human stem cell research, though the field in general has many obstacles to overcome.

``I think that Parkinson's disease is one of the diseases where we will be able to do the first clinical test,'' Lindvall told The Korea Times Thursday. ``With the stem cell approach, though I cannot guarantee, scientifically-based clinical trials will be carried out within five years. When it comes to the other diseases, it is less sure.''

In stem cell research, new cells are obtained from either fertilized human eggs (embryo) or from adult tissues, and then the reproduced cells are then used to replace or reinforce damaged cells and organs of patients. South Korea is one of the leading countries in this field along with the United States and several European countries.

Parkinson's disease is one of the most common brain malfunctions, which impairs patients' physical movement and speech. Muhammad Ali, the legendary boxer, and actor Michael J. Fox also suffer from this disease.

Lindvall is a 25-year veteran in restoring brain function with cell therapies. He is also the scientific advisor for the Michael J. Fox foundation, a non-governmental organization dedicated to finding a cure for Parkinson's disease. He's attending the Seoul Symposium on Stem Cell Research being held at Korea University.

The basic idea of Lindvall's approach is to produce healthy brain cells from human stem cells, and inject them into the patient's brain. Many previous researches have shown that transplanting specific human tissues into the brain actually helps ease Parkinson's disease, even though the method may not completely cure it.

``We have transplanted dopamine cells from fetuses into the brain and saw they can survive. I think that there are many attempts to produce this type of cell from different types of stem cells,'' he said, adding that animal tests are already underway in many institutions around the world. ``I think that it can realistically happen within the next five years.''

Regarding the disgraced Korean stem-cell researcher Hwang Woo-suk, Lindvall said that the former Seoul National University professor won't be easily trusted in the scientific circle anymore. Hwang is known to have restarted his research in Thailand, to avoid public attention of Korean peers.

``I don't want to judge anyone, but it is very difficult to trust him. That is the problem,'' he said. ``Of course one has to give people a second chance but it is very difficult to do that, because you have to rely on people, and you have to trust.''

Neil.