<p>A Griffith University research team developed this technique to examine brain diseases based on the patient's nose-derived stem cells. Alan Mackay-Sim from the National Centre for Adult Stem Cell Research of Griffith University described it as a milestone because researchers could not obtain brain cells of patients suffering from brain diseases. <br /><br />"Lack of patient-derived brain cells has blocked progress in understanding brain diseases compared to progress in understanding and treating cancers, based on cells from cancer patients," Mackay-Sim said, according to a Griffith University statement. <br /><br />Olfactory stem cells have many advantages over other stem cells sources as models for brain diseases, the journal Disease Models and Mechanisms reported. "They can be obtained from a patient's nose with a simple biopsy and the cells provide important information about both developmental and degenerative brain diseases," it added. <br />"For brain diseases, research has relied on cells from other parts of the body which lack important features for understanding brain diseases, and post-mortem brain samples which are limited in supply and provide the endpoint of disease only," it said. <br /><br />Mackay-Sim's team used olfactory stem cells from people with schizophrenia and Parkinson's disease and compared them to stem cells from healthy people. <br /><br />"This approach demonstrated disease-specific differences in the genes, proteins and cell-functions of those suffering from the brain disorders. It may also reveal important findings for other neurological conditions and help to develop new drugs," he said.<br /><br />Schizophrenia is a life-long mental illness affecting one percent of the world's population. Parkinson's disease is a degenerative neurological disorder affecting 0.1 percent of people.</p>
<p>A Griffith University research team developed this technique to examine brain diseases based on the patient's nose-derived stem cells. Alan Mackay-Sim from the National Centre for Adult Stem Cell Research of Griffith University described it as a milestone because researchers could not obtain brain cells of patients suffering from brain diseases. <br /><br />"Lack of patient-derived brain cells has blocked progress in understanding brain diseases compared to progress in understanding and treating cancers, based on cells from cancer patients," Mackay-Sim said, according to a Griffith University statement. <br /><br />Olfactory stem cells have many advantages over other stem cells sources as models for brain diseases, the journal Disease Models and Mechanisms reported. "They can be obtained from a patient's nose with a simple biopsy and the cells provide important information about both developmental and degenerative brain diseases," it added. <br />"For brain diseases, research has relied on cells from other parts of the body which lack important features for understanding brain diseases, and post-mortem brain samples which are limited in supply and provide the endpoint of disease only," it said. <br /><br />Mackay-Sim's team used olfactory stem cells from people with schizophrenia and Parkinson's disease and compared them to stem cells from healthy people. <br /><br />"This approach demonstrated disease-specific differences in the genes, proteins and cell-functions of those suffering from the brain disorders. It may also reveal important findings for other neurological conditions and help to develop new drugs," he said.<br /><br />Schizophrenia is a life-long mental illness affecting one percent of the world's population. Parkinson's disease is a degenerative neurological disorder affecting 0.1 percent of people.</p>