Scientists advance SMA research with stem cells
A team led by University of Wisconsin-Madison researcher and 2006 FightSMA Annual Conference presenter Dr. Clive Svendsen has shown that they can create a model of spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) in a petri dish.
Building on research previously reported which allows scientists to force skin cells to act like embryonic stem cells, the team used skin cells from a boy with SMA to create SMA affected motor neurons in the laboratory. Because these motor neurons are outside of a patient, researchers expect to be able to observe the rate of motor neuron death and test interventions much easier and safer.
The team’s findings have been published by the journal Nature. The article is “Induced pluripotent stem cells from a spinal muscular atrophy patient” by Allison D. Ebert, Junying Yu, Ferrill F. Rose, Jr., Virginia B. Mattis, Christian L. Lorson, James A. Thomson and Clive N. Svendsen.
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Tags: clive svendsen, dr. chris lorson, research, sma, spinal muscular atrophy, stem cellShare This Post Via Email or Social Bookmark:
