Parkinson’s disease has always been one of the main candidates for stem cell therapies. But a report in Sharon Begley’s Lab Report blog at Newsweek suggests that scientists’ early hopes are turning to pessimism. Neurologist Jeffrey Kordower, of Chicago’s Rush Presbyterian Medical Center, told a conference at Rockefeller University earlier this month that it will be very difficult. “I’ve blogged before on the growing realization that using stem cells, or cells derived from stem cells, to repair neurological diseases is going to be really, really hard” Begley reports. “But I’d never heard someone of Kordower’s stature put it quite so starkly: ‘In my opinion it will take a major miracle for stem cells to make a difference in Parkinson’s disease.’” ~ Newsweek, Oct 15