This Could Be A Day to Remember

and the pun is intended: researchers at UC San Diego announced that genetically altered cells injected into the human brain "appear to nourish ailing nuerons and may slow the cognitive decline in patients with Alzheimer's disease." Here's the news story:
Quad-City Times Newspaper Online - the Quad-Cities Home Page

and the BBC has more details. The potential for this research is enormous, partly because of the similiarity of Alzheimer's to several other devastating diseases involving neuron function, such as ALS. And of course, it has social and political significance also because of the onrushing baby boomer population, getting into Alzheimer range.

This is apparently not a practical treatment yet except in special cases (at the moment, meaning very rich people who can afford the surgery) but if it does become practical, it's going to shake up the health care system once again, on issues of costs, availability and who gets the treatment. The words "stem cells" haven't been mentioned in these early stories, but if they do appear, yet another dimension will be added to the erupting debate. Keep an eye on this one. It could be big.

UPDATE: Monday's New York Times story takes a more skeptical view. They indicate the research was done for a private gene therapy company, so the results (they imply) are self-serving. And all other gene therapies have failed, even when initial results were promising, as this one. Their report was on the business page.