From Stem Cells to Dopamine Neurons: Developmental Biology Meets Neurodegeneration

Neurodegenerative disease affects tens of millions of people, worldwide, and comes at a cost to the public of billions of dollars. Stem cell therapy, in recent years, has generated a lot of enthusiasm as a novel treatment for neurodegenerative disease. In particular, Parkinson’s disease has been identified as the ideal neurodegenerative disease to be treated using stem cells. Despite years of setbacks, recent experimental results have renewed optimism in the validity of stem cell therapy for the treatment of Parkinson's disease. In this review, we discuss advances in our understanding of the embryonic development of the dopamine system and the importance of these discoveries in the continued efforts towards stem cell therapy for Parkinson’s disease.