Via Scoop.it – ALS Lou Gehrig’s Disease
The quest for treatments for motor neurone disease, spinal cord injury and strokes could be helped by new research that shows how key cells are produced. Scientists at the University of Edinburgh have been able to manipulate the production of motor neurones – which control all muscle activity – in zebrafish. Zebrafish are important in helping scientists understand how motor neurones are produced, because unlike mammals, they are able to create new motor neurones as adults. Humans can generate motor neurones during embryonic development but lose the ability to generate these cells, which are important for speaking, walking and breathing, after birth. This means that the body is unable to replace these cells if they become damaged as a result of motor neurone disease, stroke or spinal cord injury.
Via www.eurekalert.org
ALS Research News 