Stem Cells Generated from ALS Patients for the First Time By Richard Robinson, Science Writer For the first time, stem cells have been generated from individual patients with ALS. The accomplishment is likely to lead to development of new models of ALS and new understanding of disease mechanisms. “They will also provide a potential resource for drug discovery and the development of new treatments for ALS,” said Lucie Bruijn, Ph.D., science director and vice president of The ALS Association. “Model systems to date have focused on the SOD1 mutations linked to 2% of ALS. These findings enable the development of cell lines from ALS patients, even those for which the specific causative genes remain unknown,” Bruijn said. “The ability to generate human motor neurons from ALS patients carrying genes linked to the disease is a very exciting accomplishment building on novel technology and the work of several groups.”  Motor neurons are the nerve cells that die in ALS. Read full story about these stem cells from ALS patients

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