The project seeks to help victims of Parkinson's disease, spinal cord injury and strokes, and transplanting of developed stem cells into patients' central nervous systems is expected to begin this year, Maiyadhaj said.

A team of about 12 neurological and stem-cell experts is currently reviewing the published results of related studies from all over the world for the project, he added.

The project proposal is being drafted and needs approval from the institute's ethics committee before patient trials can start, he said.

The budget requirement for the first year has been set at Bt10 million, he said.

Mahidol University's cell engineering and tissue growth laboratory will develop the proper type of stem cells for the project, said Ahnond Bunyaratvej, the secretary-general of the National Research Council of Thailand.

"[Don't hold your breath], we're just at the beginning," said neurosurgeon Smarn Tangaroosin of the Prasat Neurological Institute. "Though the efficacy of stem-cell transplant remains uncertain, it's proved to be safe so far."

The Prasat team is still undecided whether to use embryonic or adult stem cells, both of which have pros and cons that need to be weighed very carefully, Smarm said.

Unlike other parts of the body, neural organs like nerve cells are the most complicated to handle, said neurologist Akravudh Viriyavejakul, also from Prasat Neurological Institute.

"And the idea of replacing damaged human organs with new man-made ones cannot apply to the nervous system. The only way so far is stem-cell therapy," he said.

The most feared side effect of a stem-cell transplant is the uncontrolled growth of the cells into a tumour, Akravudh said.

"[With Parkinson's] we're determining whether to grow dopaminergic neurons [nerve cells] outside and then inject them into the patient's bodies, or inject premature cells and then programme them to become the proper nerve cells later," Akravudh said.

Arthit Khwankhom

The Nation