DALLAS: Researchers are trying to come up with treatments for dementia, allergies and other hard-to-treat diseases using induced pluripotent stem cells, or iPS cells, raising hopes for medical breakthroughs.
Japan’s National Institute of Biochemical Innovation, or NIBIO, has used iPS cells to cultivate cells making up the so-called blood-brain barrier, which prevents unnecessary or harmful substances from entering the brain via the bloodstream. Though this barrier is a critical part of the body’s defense system, it also keeps orally administered or injected drugs from reaching the brain, throwing up hurdles to the development of treatments for ailments such as Alzheimer’s disease…