Something new in mind
The idea of repairing brains with nerve cells from fetuses is old and controversial. Novel technologies threaten to make it redundant
AT A dozen centres across Europe and North America, doctors are busy drilling holes in skulls, planting seeds in brains, and watching closely for the green shoots of physical and mental recovery. The recovery they are looking for is from Parkinson's disease, a disorder that causes people to lose control of their movements. The seeds they are planting are pieces of tissue from the brains of aborted fetuses.
This article appeared in the Science & technology section of the print edition under the headline “Something new in mind”
From the March 22nd 1997 edition
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