Induced stem cells become research model for ALS

Darkfrog submitted, created time 5 months 1 week (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

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