If it's the article I'm thinking of, the regeneration of 'stem cells'
(done in Germany?) was at the level of skin, or muscle structure to repair
burn damage.
  It's a long way from something more advanced like e.g. an organ like a
liver or kidney, and 50? years from even doing parts of a brain stem, if
that proved to be feasible.
  So far as I could tell from some programs I've watched on what they're
experimenting with,  changing a part of the Brain with a 'new improved part'
would be analogous to replacing a 'spark plug'  on a Jetliner somewhere over
the Atlantic at 30,000 feet, without interrupting the flight controls.

Granted they probably thought transplanting e.g. a Human Heart 50 years ago
was long long away.

 But parts of our brain are more complex?  than e.g. a Heart Valve, a
kidney or other organs.    So far as I know Brain cells don't 'regrow'  like
some other organs might?   *That might be what they're hoping for with Stem
Cells.
  I'd still be surprised if they came up with a way to 'control'  the
growth or regrowth of,  example--  one of the Temporal Lobes -- e.g.  what
would make the stem cell grow a Temporal lobe and not decide we 'needed'  a
third Frontal Lobe,  another eye, or improved hearing once it is 'started
up' ? Maybe they will find 'the code' for what will guide reconstruction.
DNA wasn't known about (much) in 1950s.  But I still think we're talking
about times measured in multiples of decades to centuries, versus months.

  (I have Right Temporal Lobe-based epilepsy, by the way, so it's not just
someone who doesn't have seizures suggesting one possibility. We do have 4-5
people who might still be reading the group who have had Temporal Lobe
surgery, who might be able to tell you what it involved, if they had any
negatives about before or after the surgery, and *whether they'd do it
again.   They might be more  skilled at telling you of any pluses or minuses
that they encountered and how they're doing.   The impression I had was that
the ones who were posting here, all had positive (improved) outcomes and
their seizures had gone away.  )

    How Often do you have seizures?   Have you tried the multiple types of
pills that are available for Temporal Lobe seizures already?  (You didn't
say on first post, so I can't tell if you've already exhausted those, or
not.   I tried 3 pills over ~2-3 years, then had mine under control.   Last
one I had was June 98, but I still use the pills.  That's easier (for me)
than letting a Doctor go through the roof of my mouth to find which parts he
wants to cut out...  )

 Our hospital and medical schools are already getting near the capacity of
students they can handle now, as the population continues to outpace the
available number of spaces for new students.  One place there will be
shortages next will be in caregivers and medical staff, as us 'baby boomers'
reach mid-60s and start to retire.

 If I find any sites (from my weekly Radio Science Show) on Stem Cell
links,  I'll post them for you.  Did you try searches on 'Stem Cell
Research' or Health and Stem Cells ?  If there was chance of this being
available in next 10 years, there'd probably already be articles in New
Scientist? (is that the uk science Magazine?)  or Discover (that's one of
the N. American ones).  I think National Geographic had a special issue
about a year? ago on 'future research' too?  G./

The study of the use of stem cells to treat epilepsy has only just begun.
There are a few early positive studies in rodents that are laying the
groundwork but it will be a long time in coming for a real treatment based
on these techniques.  Right now they seem to be trying to increase the
number of functional GABA-producing cells which are the main inhibitory
cells in the brain.  The theory here is similar to the use of anticonvulsant
drugs in that the cause of the seizures is not being addressed by
essentially shutting down the brain (i.e. increasing the seizure threshold).
Unfortunately, for most epilepsies, the cause is not known or understood.
Even the most basic sign of a seizure...epileptic discharge...is not
understood.  I attended a seminar yesterday on "What is epileptic
discharge?" and researchers are not sure what it is or how it is triggered,
maintained or even stopped.  Until we can hope to understand what a seizure
is and what determines its threshold at a cellular level, I don't believe a
truly effective "cure" can be found.

1: Neuroscience. 2005;133(4):1029-37.

Genetically engineered cells with regulatable GABA production can affect
afterdischarges and behavioral seizures after transplantation into the
dentate
gyrus.

Thompson KW.

VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System/UCLA Department of Neurology,
Building
114, Room 137, 11301 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90073, USA.

Intractable seizures originating in the mesial temporal lobe can often be
controlled by resection. An alternative to removing hippocampal tissue may
be
transplantation of GABA-producing cells. Neural cell transplantation has
been
performed in hundreds of patients, including some with temporal lobe
epilepsy.
This study evaluates the seizure-suppressing capabilities of engineered
GABA-producing cells transplanted into the dentate gyrus. Immortalized
neurons
were engineered to produce GABA under the control of doxycycline. The cells
were
characterized for GABA production in vitro and for their ability to raise
GABA
concentrations in vivo. Cells were transplanted bilaterally into the dentate
gyrus of rats and tested in two separate paradigms. Afterdischarge
thresholds
and durations were tested with granule cell stimulation, and the development
of
behavioral seizures, induced by daily electrical stimulation of the major
excitatory input pathway into the dentate gyrus, was assessed in the
presence,
or the absence, of doxycycline. GABA production was under the tight control
of
doxycycline. Cells engineered to produce GABA raised tissue GABA
concentrations
in the hippocampus compared with non GABA-producing cells, and this was
abolished when doxycycline was administered. GABA-producing cells raised the
threshold, and shortened the duration of hippocampal afterdischarges
elicited by
granule cell stimulation. Lastly, the appearance of stage 5 seizures was
slowed
in the kindling paradigm, compared with a group that received
non-GABA-producing
cells, and compared with a group that received GABA-producing cells but was
administered doxycycline. This study shows that targeted hippocampal
implants of
genetically engineered cells have the potential to raise GABA levels and to
affect seizure development. The ability to suppress the production of GABA,
and
to modulate the physiological effects of the transplanted cells provides an
important level of experimental control. These techniques, combined with
stem
cell technology, may advance cell-based therapies for epilepsy and other
diseases of the CNS.

I found this article (without going to google) -- it talks about some places
stem cells could be of use, and another link suggests that Lou Gerrig's
(sp?) might be treatable by some therapies.  But neither this article nor
the other of these 2 mentioned *epilepsy **anywhere.   Article pulled in was
at http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=26541#  .    I
hope I recorded that correct.  If not it was in Medical News and I searched
for topic 'stem cells'.   G./