Lou Gehrig’s disease may soon receive a stem cell treatment. The collaboration between a California based company and a small Belgian Company may provide the stem cell solution to the disease. The technology is likely to employ the motor neuron cell from the embryonic stem cell. The research will be funded by the ALS Association, a California based patients advocacy firm.

The California Stem Cell company has been into stem cell research for many years. The company has created various cells like motor neuron, heart pacemaker and heart muscle cell. Under the new deal, the company will provide motor neuron cell to an UK based research lab Bio Focus DPI. It can be added that the experiment, if successful, can be a major stepping stone in the stem cell research arena mainly because prior to that another company has tried to do the same experiment which had failed.

Lou Gehrig’s, better known as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or ALS, is a major fatal disease that kills the patient within a few years. The disease injures the motor neurons, and makes the patient unable to move. At the last and devastating stage, the patient can be locked in. He remains conscious but cannot make any communication to the outside world. The disease affects around 30,000 patients in the US every year.

Source: Forbes.com

Source: Forbes.com”