By Kristian Foden-Vencil

PORTLAND, OR 2006-12-12 The parents of a critically ill 6-year-old praised researchers for their work at Oregon Health and Science University Tuesday.

Doctors drilled through Daniel Kerner's skull last month and injected nervous-system stem cells to try and help him fight Batten disease.

The medical school says it was the first such procedure ever undertaken. As Kristian Foden-Vencil reports, the parents are thrilled that Daniel hasn't suffered any of his customary seizures since the operation and that he'll be going home soon.

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Batten disease is a rare and progressive illness, which results in death. Sufferers, like Daniel Kerner, cannot produce the enzyme needed to remove certain toxins from their brains.

In Kerner's first six years of life, toxins built up in his brain -- causing severe damage.

He can no longer speak and has to use a wheelchair. Since the operation, however, his dad, Marcus Kerner, says there's been a marked improvement.

Marcus Kerner: "He gets up in the morning two days ago and he looks at his mom and leans over and smiles. And he says: 'Hi.' In the hospital a nurse was standing next to us as we were taking care of Daniel and I was stretching his legs and he said: 'Dad.' This morning he's chewing better, he's feeling better, there's a glow to him."

Kerner says it's been two years since Daniel last called him 'Dad.'

Joanna Kerner thanked the team of doctors, saying they've given a Batten disease sufferer: 'the gift of life.'

Joanne Kerner: "We have hope that our son will grow and his language will reemerge and his motor skills will reemerge and we'll have another little boy playing on our block."

While researchers are pleased that Daniel appears to have endured the pioneering operation without too many problems, they caution that they're not working on a cure for Batten's disease.

Doctor Nathan Selden says they're simply working to see whether this kind of operation is safe.

Nathan Selden: "It would be speculative from a medical or scientific standpoint to try and determine at this point whether the stem cells have any beneficial effect themselves. It would be very early to expect that kind of benefit."

Selden and his team are planning to conduct similar operations on six sufferers of Batten disease. But the research is not without controversy.

The stem cells that are used are from lines originally obtained from aborted fetuses.

Doctor Robert Steiner, says it's an issue that he and his colleagues take very seriously and he hopes that one day the cells might come from elsewhere.

Robert Steiner: "They may not necessarily in the future need to come from fetuses. They could come from children that die from natural causes. And it would be my hope that some time in the future, if we can prove that this is successful, that we may be able to derive these cells from a less controversial and morally unacceptable -- to some people -- source."

About 400 children are living with Batten disease at any one time in the U.S. But the disease is fatal.

Doctors say it could take up to three years to really tell whether the stem cell implants helped their six patients in a significant way.