February 18, 2010, 05:00:00AM. By Charles Benson

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Augusta, GA: Scientists at the Medical College of Georgia have begun conducting experiments to test the effectiveness of stem cells in the treatment of cerebral palsy.

The tests, the first of their kind to receive approval from the FDA, will examine the effects of stem cells taken from an umbilical cord on children between the ages of 2 and 12. The children have all had samples of their umbilical fluid preserved at the Cord Blood Registry in Tuscon, Arizona.

Cerebral palsy is a motor condition that causes physical and mental disabilities and stunts human development. It results from prenatal injuries or a lack of oxygen to the brain during the first few years of life.

Promising tests on animals lead researchers to believe that stem cells, which can divide and morph into different types of cells throughout the body, might be able to replace damaged or lost cells, according to Science Daily.

"While a variety of cord blood stem cell therapies have been used successfully for more than 20 years, this study is breaking new ground in advancing therapies for brain injury - a condition for which there is currently no cure," says Dr James Carroll, lead investigator of the study.

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