Induced stem cells become research model for ALS

Darkfrog submitted, created time 3 months 2 weeks (sciencenow.sciencemag.org)

Induced stem cells are coming into their own as a research model. Scientists at Harvard and Columbia have created a culture of motor cells from the skin of a patient known to be afflicted with amyotropic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gherig's disease.

The patient has a rare form of ALS that is known to be caused by an inherited mutation. This represents only 2% of ALS patients. This may be significant because critics claim that partial replicants of the patient's nerve cells will be of little use as research models. And because iPS do not always mimic the environmental changes that have taken place in the patient's body, they are at high risk of being partial.

Keywords: stem cells stem cell research amyotropic lateral sclerosis SOD1 superoxide disputase 1 ALS Lou Gherigs disease induced pluripotent stem cells