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Device That may Help Find Cure for Lou Gehrig's Disease Developed

by VR Sreeraman on Jul 31 2007 6:10 PM

Researchers have developed a device that may boost the findings of a cure for fatal neurodegenerative condition Lou Gehrig's disease.

Lou Gehrig's disease-or ALS or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis is a fatal neurodegenerative condition that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord.

The study was conducted by a team of researchers led by Glenn S. Gerhard at Bucknell University.

Earlier the researchers used zebrafish, which can be easily bred and tends to exhibit disease's effects at an accelerated rate to find new drugs to fight the disease.

Researchers believed that the cure or at least a more viable treatment option for the disease could be found in the right mix of the millions of drugs and drug compounds that have been developed in laboratories across the world.

"There are so many different compounds but you don't know which ones to test. We need bioengineering help to automate this process," Gerhard said.

As part of the study researchers developed a working prototype screening plate that allows scientists to quickly expose zebrafish to ALS and mix chemicals together.

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The device might test the potential cure-carrying chemical solutions in few days as compared to months needed earlier and with far fewer research staff involved.

Researchers noted that a streamlined screening process might also free up precious resources in the lab.

Source-ANI
LIN/B


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