Reading Time: 6 minutes MND is a very complex disease and collaboration within the research community is key to building on our current understanding of the disease biology and finding effective treatments. The MND Association recognises the importance of expanding the dedicated MND research workforce, as well as supporting those who are already working in the field. To fund…
Reading Time: 6 minutes As part of our Symposium Spotlight series, we’re looking back on some of the research presented at the 32nd International Symposium on ALS/MND. This blog takes a closer look at the Stephen Hawking Memorial Lecture (supported by The Stephen Hawking Foundation) which was presented by Professor Jennifer Doudna, a joint Nobel Prize winner for her…
Reading Time: 2 minutes In a previous research project funded by the MND Association, Prof Kevin Talbot and colleagues from the University of Oxford developed a new TDP-43 mouse model of MND. Compared to other mouse models of MND, this one accurately reflects the symptoms of the disease and levels of the TDP-43 protein as seen in humans. This…
Reading Time: 2 minutes During the early stages of MND it is proposed that motor neurones are more susceptible to an imbalance of oxygen within the cells, known as oxidative stress. Prof Dame Kay Davies, at the University of Oxford, has previously shown that increasing the levels of the gene Oxr1 can protect motor neurones from death caused by…
Reading Time: < 1 minute “On the fourth day of Christmas MND research gives to you… on the FOURTH month of 2014, we announced that we’ll fund an exciting new stem cell project” During our April Biomedical Research Advisory Panel Meeting we agreed to fund seven new MND research projects. These projects included Prof Linda Greensmith’s research on Restoring muscle…
Reading Time: 3 minutes Prof Vladimir Buchman (Cardiff University)’s research was selected as one of the best research studies, as decided by the journal editors, published in the Journal of Biological Chemistry in 2013. He is building on this research in his Association-funded project, which began on 1 April 2014. The background to FUS: In 2009 an international team…
Reading Time: 4 minutes MND Association-funded researcher, Prof Linda Greensmith, based at University College London, together with her collaborator Dr Ivo Lieberam from Kings College London, have introduced stem cell-derived motor neurones into mice. Published in the prestigious journal Science on 4 April 2014, her research has also demonstrated that muscle function can be controlled by light. Modelling MND…
Reading Time: 4 minutes The exact course, duration and rate of progression of MND often varies greatly from person to person; even when there is a known family history of the disease caused by a specific MND-causing gene (eg SOD1). This same variability also occurs in mice. Researchers, funded by the MND Association, took two mice with the same SOD1…
Reading Time: 2 minutes Thanks to funding and some strategic ‘match-making’ by the MND Association, a new drug may have taken one step closer to beginning clinical trials in MND after producing promising results in an animal model of the disease. The drug, known as Cogane, was developed by the biotechnology company Phytopharm. It had already demonstrated in laboratory…
Reading Time: 3 minutes Models of MND are important both to understand the causes of MND and to quickly, efficiently and accurately screen and develop new treatments for it. A number of key developments both in terms of technological know-how and new understanding of genetics of MND have led to the development of new models discussed at on the…
