Patient-derived induced stem cells retain disease traits
Sunday, December 21, 2008 - 14:22
in Health & Medicine
(PhysOrg.com) -- When neurons started dying in Clive Svendsen's lab dishes, he couldn't have been more pleased.The dying cells - the same type lost in patients with the devastating neurological disease spinal muscular atrophy - confirmed that the University of Wisconsin-Madison stem cell biologist had recreated the hallmarks of a genetic disorder in the lab, using stem cells derived from a patient. By allowing scientists the unparalleled opportunity to watch the course of a disease unfold in a lab dish, the work marks an enormous step forward in being able to study and develop new therapies for genetic diseases.