naw, it’s quite on-topic. what will happen here is what always happens ~ the boy’s own immune systems will reject the foreign cells one way or the other. Then the boys will die sooner than expected. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pelizaeus–Merzbacher_disease Besides the crime of abortion we have this additional crime of performing more quack medical experiments on children.
I believe I recall reading that some country permitted embryonic cells to be implanted into the head of someone suffering from brain cancer. The cells turned into tumors, killing him
The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2012
Sir John B. Gurdon, Shinya Yamanaka
The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2012Summary
Prize Announcement
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Sir John B. GurdonBiographical
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Shinya YamanakaBiographical
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Press Release
2012-10-08
The Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institutet has today decided to award
The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2012
jointly to
John B. Gurdon and Shinya Yamanaka
for the discovery that mature cells can be reprogrammed
to become pluripotent
Summary
The Nobel Prize recognizes two scientists who discovered that mature, specialised cells can be reprogrammed to become immature cells capable of developing into all tissues of the body. Their findings have revolutionised our understanding of how cells and organisms develop.
John B. Gurdon discovered in 1962 that the specialisation of cells is reversible. In a classic experiment, he replaced the immature cell nucleus in an egg cell of a frog with the nucleus from a mature intestinal cell. This modified egg cell developed into a normal tadpole. The DNA of the mature cell still had all the information needed to develop all cells in the frog.
Shinya Yamanaka discovered more than 40 years later, in 2006, how intact mature cells in mice could be reprogrammed to become immature stem cells. Surprisingly, by introducing only a few genes, he could reprogram mature cells to become pluripotent stem cells, i.e. immature cells that are able to develop into all types of cells in the body.
These groundbreaking discoveries have completely changed our view of the development and cellular specialisation. We now understand that the mature cell does not have to be confined forever to its specialised state. Textbooks have been rewritten and new research fields have been established. By reprogramming human cells, scientists have created new opportunities to study diseases and develop methods for diagnosis and therapy.
I guess it depends what you mean by “first successful neural stem cell transplant.” Since the trial is only just beginning, “successful” cannot mean that it has cured the diseases mentioned.
Evidently it just means that the boys haven’t died—yet.