Learning New Skills I Wish I Didn’t Need

I love learning some new skills, but not all of them. Thirteen years ago, I took a creative writing class that set me off on a journey that has included three novels, a children’s book, and now a weekly column. This week, I hope to take a…

Clusters containing a protein called LAT use specific adapters to move and drive the activation of T-cells to fight off infection, according to a study, the findings of which may help design immune cells with more selective effects, the researchers suggest. The study, “A composition-dependent molecular clutch…

Scientists have created a new type of split-hand index — which identifies the loss of the pincer grasp — that is able to distinguish people with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) from healthy individuals at the earliest stages of the disease. Results from the study, “Split-hand index in…

Glaciers are known for their slow movement and the transformative change that they leave in their wake. Most move only a few centimeters a day. Yet they produce lakes, cliffs, moraines, valleys, mountain arêtes and horns, and pronounced landscape striations. Perhaps stem cell research…

Biopharma AC Immune has entered a research collaboration with scientists at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania (UPenn) to uncover why TDP-43 misshapes and accumulates in the nervous system of some people, like those with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).

People in China with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) can now access edaravone (brand names Radicava, Radicut, among others), following its approval by the National Medical Products Administration, the country’s regulatory agency. The infusion therapy (delivered into the veins) is meant to slow ALS progression and will…

Mutations causing a complete loss of function of the SOD1 gene lead to severe motor problems, a case study reports, calling for caution in research into silencing this gene as a  potential treatment for people with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The case study, “SOD1 deficiency: a novel syndrome…

Life with ALS is absurd when I think about it. It’s so different than it was before the disease, and with each setback, life gets even stranger. We tried to maintain a normal life, but nothing seems normal about feeding one’s husband in a restaurant. Just a year ago, Todd…

People with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) have an altered composition of their gut microbial community, with an increase in harmful microbes and a decrease in beneficial microorganisms, according to a new small study. This altered gut microbiota could drive digestive problems in those with ALS, the researchers said. The…

Consider the wheel. Nothing comparable exists in nature. Its conception was not the byproduct of observation and imitation, but a 100 percent original human brainstorm. Evidence suggests that the first wheels were used for making pottery around 3500 B.C. in Mesopotamia. They weren’t employed for locomotion until 300 years…