Skip to main content

Groundbreaking stem cell brain implant helps fight epilepsy in rats

Severe epilepsy is very difficult to treat, but an experimental approach involving implanted stem cells in the brain represents a groundbreaking way to potentially stop seizures for good.

Carried out by researchers at Texas A&M University, the technique has yet to be tried on human subjects, but has proven highly successful on rats. Rats given the implants suffered 70 percent fewer seizures than those without. That figure could drop further with additional research.

The investigation is the first study of its kind. It demonstrated that grafting certain cells derived from human-induced pluripotent stem cells into the brain can help alleviate seizures, as well as improve brain function. The work targets temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE), the most common type of epilepsy in which seizures originate from the brain’s hippocampus. TLE is a non-genetic form of epilepsy, often resulting from an incident such as a traumatic head injury, brain infections, or fever-related seizures during childhood.

Around 40 percent of TLE cases are drug-resistant and one of the only available medical interventions is a type of surgery to remove the hippocampus entirely. Unfortunately, this approach can lead to both memory and mood impairments. That would not be necessary with the newly demonstrated approach.

As noted, right now this experimental approach has only been tested on rats. However, the researchers believe its findings could be applied to human subjects.

“For patient-specific cell therapy, one can take a skin biopsy or blood sample from a patient, convert patient’s skin fibroblasts or mononuclear blood cells into [induced pluripotent stem cells], then obtain GABA-ergic progenitors from [induced pluripotent stem cells] and transplant them into the epileptic foci in the brain of the patient,” Ashok Shetty, Professor at Texas A&M College of Medicine, told Digital Trends. “Such an approach is particularly attractive for people with drug-resistant epilepsy for long-term seizure control, and improving cognitive and mood function.

Moving forward, Shetty said that the long-term safety aspects of the treatment need to be examined. While this research is still a way off from being made available to human patients, it nonetheless represents an exciting step forward.

A paper describing the work was recently published in the journal PNAS.

Editors' Recommendations

Luke Dormehl
I'm a UK-based tech writer covering Cool Tech at Digital Trends. I've also written for Fast Company, Wired, the Guardian…
Meet the game-changing pitching robot that can perfectly mimic any human throw
baseball hitter swings and misses

Who’s your favorite baseball pitcher? Shane McClanahan? Sandy Alcantara? Justin Verlander? Whoever you said, two of the top sports-tech companies in the U.S. -- Rapsodo and Trajekt Sports -- have teamed up to build a robot version of them, and the results are reportedly uncannily accurate.

Okay, so we’re not talking about walking-talking-pitching standalone robots, as great a sci-fi-tinged MLB ad as that would be. However, Rapsodo and Trajekt have combined their considerable powers to throw a slew of different technologies at the problem of building a machine that's able to accurately simulate the pitching style of whichever player you want to practice batting against -- and they may just have pulled it off, too.

Read more
The best portable power stations
EcoFlow DELTA 2 on table at campsite for quick charging.

Affordable and efficient portable power is a necessity these days, keeping our electronic devices operational while on the go. But there are literally dozens of options to choose from, making it abundantly difficult to decide which mobile charging solution is best for you. We've sorted through countless portable power options and came up with six of the best portable power stations to keep your smartphones, tablets, laptops, and other gadgets functioning while living off the grid.
The best overall: Jackery Explorer 1000

Jackery has been a mainstay in the portable power market for several years, and today, the company continues to set the standard. With three AC outlets, two USB-A, and two USB-C plugs, you'll have plenty of options for keeping your gadgets charged.

Read more
CES 2023: HD Hyundai’s Avikus is an A.I. for autonomous boat and marine navigation
Demonstration of NeuBoat level 2 autonomous navigation system at the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show

This content was produced in partnership with HD Hyundai.
Autonomous vehicle navigation technology is certainly nothing new and has been in the works for the better part of a decade at this point. But one of the most common forms we see and hear about is the type used to control steering in road-based vehicles. That's not the only place where technology can make a huge difference. Autonomous driving systems can offer incredible benefits to boats and marine vehicles, too, which is precisely why HD Hyundai has unveiled its Avikus AI technology -- for marine and watercraft vehicles.

More recently, HD Hyundai participated in the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show, to demo its NeuBoat level 2 autonomous navigation system for recreational boats. The name mashes together the words "neuron" and "boat" and is quite fitting since the Avikus' A.I. navigation tech is a core component of the solution, it will handle self-recognition, real-time decisions, and controls when on the water. Of course, there are a lot of things happening behind the scenes with HD Hyundai's autonomous navigation solution, which we'll dive into below -- HD Hyundai will also be introducing more about the tech at CES 2023.

Read more