Scientists at Harvard University and Columbia University found a new technique for reprogramming cells which permitted them to grow neurons from cell samples that had been donated by individuals suffering from Lou Gehrig's disease, also called amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. These ones genetically corresponded to the bad cells in the spinal cords of patients diagnosed with ALS. The finding, which is definitely an important step forward, may trigger to an understanding of how the Lou Gehrig’s disease develops.

According to the stem cell experts, they were very contended with the breakthrough. However, they weren’t astonished to see evidence that the new technique worked on human cells from patients having the disease.

"It is quite amazing and an important step that should allow the development of experimental and therapeutic interventions for this disease," asserted Kathrin Plath, a researcher at the Broad Center of Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research at the University of California, Los Angeles.

“We now have in the culture dish cells which have the same genetic makeup as do the patients,” stated Christopher Henderson, a researcher at Colombia University in New York and co-author of the study.

ALS, sometimes called Maladie de Charcot, is a progressive neurodegenerative disease caused by the deterioration of motor neurons, the nerve cells located in the central nervous system which control voluntary muscle movement. The disease provokes muscle weakness and atrophy throughout the whole body, leading to paralysis or death. In line with the ALS Association, about 20,000 citizens in the United States suffer from the disease.