founded a biotechnology company that is funding the Chicago work, hopes larger studies will begin within another year. Tuszynski and colleagues took skin cells from eight patients in the early stages of Alzheimer's and modified the genes to secrete a protein found in healthy brains called nerve growth factor, or NGF. Earlier studies had shown that injecting NGF-producing tissue into the brains of aging monkeys could reverse deterioration. Simply injecting NGF into people would not work. If it goes into the wrong part of the brain, it can cause serious side effects. «These results need to be interpreted with cautious optimism,» said William Thies of the Alzheimer's Association. With so few patients in the study, «it's really impossible to tell whether the benefit was due to the treatment or natural fluctuation in symptoms,» he said. --More 2339 Local Time 2039 GMT
