KARUNA SHINSHO, CNN ANCHOR, ASIA TONIGHT: Australian scientists are claiming to have made a medical breakthrough in the controversial area of stem cell research. As journalist Claire Brady (ph), their research could lead to hope for sufferers of a range of brain diseases.</s>CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The scientists say they didn't know what the cell looked like, where it was, or how many there were, but 10 years of work with mice has finally paid off with a world first: By isolating the neuro stem cell, they've giving hope to those with alzheimer's, multiple sclerosis, spinal damage, and strokes.</s>RODNEY REITZE, RESEARCHER: Now that we can identify the neuro stem cell specifically and unambiguously, now we know where to go. We know where to start and where to focus our research efforts.</s>BRADY: For nine months they've remained tight-lipped about the breakthrough, a dramatic step away from controversial embryo stem cell research. It also avoids the need to transplant foreign stem cells back into sufferers and risk rejection.</s>PERRY BARTLETT, RESEARCHER: I could say in the last 24 hours we've had a number of calls from all around the world.</s>BRADY: Experiments have already started with human tissue.</s>REITZE: What that is is it's showing that these stem cells are functional in the brain, they're not just sitting there, they're actually doing what we would love them to do in the diseased state, is giving new nerve cells.</s>BRADY: It's now just a matter of time before the next step in treatment is complete. But today, Melbourne's Walter and Eliza Hall Institute was just proud of its work.</s>REITZE: If somebody told me I would make this discovery five years ago I would have said, no, I don't believe it.</s>BRADY: Claire Brady, Seven News (ph).
Australian Scientists Claim Breakthrough in Stem Cell Research