According to a study published in Advanced Science, scientists from the US have developed a universal donor stem cell that could one day provide life-saving therapy to children with lethal brain conditions and people with other degenerative diseases.

The researchers from Beckman Research Institute, City of Hope, California, used a breakthrough technique that allowed engineered hypoimmunogenic cells from a healthy donor to be transplanted into test subjects without activating the immune system.

The researchers engineered healthy skin cells containing functional aspartoacylase (ASPA) gene into induced pluripotent stem cells. They differentiated the pluripotent stem cells into oligodendroglial progenitor cells, the precursor cells that produce myelin. A myelin is an insulating sheet that wraps around the nerve fiber and facilitates high-speed transmission of information along the neuronal axons. 

After transplantation, test subjects exhibited increased myelination and improved motor functions.

(Source:https://www.daijiworld.com/news/newsDisplay?newsID=1090727 )