Scientists in Queensland, Australia have made a major breakthrough in research into Parkinson's disease.
The scientists from Griffith University in Brisbane have used cells taken from a human nose to successfully treat rats with Parkinson's disease.
The team led by Professor Alan Mackay-Sim have been involved in a project for the past five years concerned with research using cell therapy to repair the nervous system.
Professor Mackay-Sim is a sensory neuroscientist who specialises in olfaction, the sense of smell and along with a team of ten researchers used rats bred to develop the debilitating brain disease Parkinson's, which made the rats run around in circles.
The researchers took cells from the noses of humans suffering with Parkinson's and injected them into the rats' brains, and the rodents soon began running in straight lines.
Professor Mackay-Sim says the successful research is however a "baby step" in the long journey towards effectively treating the disease.
He says the research is promising because all animals transplanted with the human cells had a dramatic reduction in the rate of rotation within just three weeks and none of the transplants led to tumours or teratomas in the rats, as has occurred after embryonic stem cell transplantation in similar experiments.
Professor Mackay-Sim says the breakthrough is not likely to lead to a cure as it offered a treatment for the symptoms rather than stopping the disease in the first place.
Parkinson's disease is debilitating as it causes a loss of muscle control - it is currently treated with drugs that replace the essential chemical, dopamine, in the brain - but the drugs often become less effective with prolonged use.
Professor Mackay-Sim says the project indicates that healthy, non-specialised cells could change into whatever type of cell the body required.