Scientists from the Israeli firm Pluristem Therapeutics have a developed a possible cure for radiation sickness from donated placental tissue. The new treatment is currently being tested in Jerusalem and the United States. Animals tested during the ongoing clinical trials have shown a nearly 100% recovery rate. Researchers tested various levels of irradiation, all the way up to doses that translate to a 70% mortality rate.

The Haifa-based company notes that the therapy is most efficacious when used with 48 hours of exposure to radiation. The treatment is relatively easy to manufacture and store, so the hope is to be able to deploy the medication to places where emergency responses to radiation crises are most likely to occur, i.e. the Fukushima region of Japan. The company will continue its development of medicines derived from placental tissue, hoping to focus on other conditions affecting the central nervous system.

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