Marisa Wexler, MS,  senior science writer—

Scientists have developed a novel method to efficiently grow motor neurons from skin cells, which may serve as a platform for creating cell therapies to treat diseases like amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The new method was described in two papers — one titled “Compact transcription factor cassettes…

A bipartisan team of lawmakers in the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate is pushing for legislation to help ensure that spouses of veterans who die from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) have access to benefits. The Justice for ALS Veterans Act was introduced in the House by Brian Fitzpatrick,…

Measuring blood levels of neurofilament light chain, or NfL, a biomarker of nerve damage, may help in diagnosing amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), and in predicting the risk of death among people with the neurodegenerative condition, a new study shows. This biomarker showed substantially better accuracy for both ALS diagnosis…

Fat molecules called polyunsaturated fatty acids, or PUFAs, can help lessen nerve damage in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), according to a study of fruit flies and cell models. Previous studies have shown that consumption of omega-3 fatty acid, a type of PUFA, is associated with a lower risk…

Four experimental treatments for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) have been tested in the HEALEY ALS platform trial and two, CNM-Au8 and pridopidine, have shown promising results and are moving toward Phase 3 testing. The others, zilucoplan and verdiperstat, failed to show any benefit and are no…

Sleep problems may become evident in people with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) several years before the characteristic motor symptoms of the disease develop, a new study shows. The study suggests alterations in a brain region called the hypothalamus, which are seen in early disease stages and sometimes even…

Oral therapy IFB-088 (icerguastat) was safe and significantly slowed disease progression in certain people with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), according to new data from a Phase 2 clinical trial. “We are very encouraged by the results we observed with IFB-088,” Pierre Miniou, CEO of IFB-088’s developer Inflectis Bioscience,…

uniQure is planning to start enrolling patients in a second dose group as part of a clinical trial testing AMT-162, its one-time gene therapy for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) associated with mutations in the SOD1 gene. The open-label Phase 1/2 study, called EPISOD1 (NCT06100276) is intended to…

People with diabetes or high cholesterol may be less likely to develop amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) or other motor neuron diseases (MNDs), but heart and metabolism problems are linked with faster disease progression and worse survival rates among people who already have MND. That’s according to the study, “…

People with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) who get a feeding tube placed after losing a lot of weight are more likely to die within a few months than those who receive feeding support before major weight loss, a study reports. Findings suggest that feeding tubes placed before substantial weight…