Better way to grow motor neurons from stem cells

University of Illinois cell and developmental biology professor Fei Wang, left; visiting scholar Qiuhao Qu, center; materials science and engineering professor Jianjun Cheng; and their colleagues improved the process of converting stem cells into motor neurons. (Neurons are green; motor neurons are red in the image on the screen). CHAMPAIGN, Ill. Researchers report they can generate human motor neurons from stem cells much more quickly and efficiently than previous methods allowed. The finding, described , will aid efforts to model human motor neuron development, and to understand and treat spinal cord injuries and motor neuron diseases such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The new method involves adding critical signaling molecules to precursor cells a few days earlier than previous methods specified. This increases the proportion of healthy motor neurons derived from stem cells (from 30 to 70 percent) and cuts in half the time required to do so.