Stem cells hold key to tackling brain disease

A rapidly ageing global society means a higher prevalence of neurodegenerative diseases. Looking at dementia, for example, the most common form of which is Alzheimer’s disease (AD), the World Health Organization estimates that worldwide, around 50 million people have dementia, and there are nearly 10 million new cases every year. And, it’s predicted that this number could rise to 150 million people by the year 2050. It’s clear that consistent and continued efforts to explore methods of prevention and treatments are required. Existing treatments include acetylcholinesterase (AChE) inhibitors, antibodies to Aβ and anti-inflammatory agents, but these are not without their drawbacks and limitations and new avenues must be explored. A group of Korean scientists believes that stem cells and regenerative medicine hold the key to alleviating the global burden of neurodegenerative diseases and this is where they are focusing their efforts. The innovative stem cell research being undertaken by Designed Cells Co., Ltd, which is based in Korea, performs important stem cell research geared towards improving life – enabling people to age gracefully and maintain wellbeing – and making treatments for neurodegenerative diseases available to all who need them. Professor James Yun-Bae Kim is CEO of the company and Dr Ehn-Kyoung Choi is Director of the company’s Central Research Institute. Through their work, the researchers are collaborating with numerous companies spanning different fields, the team is keen to work with global partners in any field to further expand their work to develop treatments for AD and more widely demonstrate the effectiveness of their research.