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People with the degenerative disorder Huntington's disease could receive pioneering treatment with stem cells to try to slow development of symptoms.

Cardiff University plans to begin the first transplants at a specialist brain centre by the end of the year.

A new procedure will be used to administer the transplant, which will be evaluated for effectiveness by the following spring.

is caused by a single faulty gene and is currently incurable.

William Gray, the Brain Repair and Intracranial Neurotherapeutics (Brain) Unit's professor of functional neuroscience, said: "The procedure marks a next stage in our battle to combat the debilitating effects of this currently incurable disorder.

"Whilst the measurability of the surgery's success may not be clear-cut for more than a year post-transplantation, we are hopeful the procedure could significantly contribute to the long-term development of therapies for thousands of people living with Huntington's disease."