A domestic research team has successfully treated Alzheimer’s in animals using human stem cells.

Chungbuk National University’s College of Veterinary Medicine led by Professor Kim Yun-bae announced its findings following three years of research in collaboration with the University of British Columbia’s Department of Medicine.

The team said lab rats that had brain transplantation of human neural stem cells (NSCs) genetically modified to encode the ChAT gene recovered all their memory.

This method of treatment could be commercialized through clinical trials, but in South Korea, stem cell treatment on humans is not permitted.

The team’s research was announced at the forum Neuroscience, the world's largest meeting for neuroscientists. It will be also be published in the journal Cell Transplantation, an authority in stem cell research.