Conservation of structures and functions between single-celled fungi and human cells allow researchers to probe the brain.

Meet some of the people featured in the October 2021 issue of The Scientist.

The single-celled fungus allows researchers to study Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, ALS and other brain diseases with unparalleled speed and scale.

After six months, patients with fast-progressing amyotrophic lateral sclerosis who had received the experimental treatment had less loss of function than those who received a placebo.

Researchers slowed disease progression in the mice by injecting two different viral vectors, each containing one part of the DNA encoding the Cas9 protein, to edit the causative gene.

Flexible proteins appear to protect molecules from becoming denatured in extreme conditions such as heat and from clumping up, as happens in some neurodegenerative diseases.

Boosting the levels of Akkermansia muciniphila in mouse guts slowed the progression of an ALS-like disease, while two other microbiome members were associated with more severe symptoms.

He developed an MRI-based map of the human cortex, discovered genetic risk factors for neurodegenerative diseases, and wrote about his struggles with ALS.

Famed for his work on black holes and cosmology, he also survived decades with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

The gene-editing tool was effective in disabling a defective gene responsible for some forms of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. 

By stifling autophagy in the motor neurons of a mouse model of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), scientists stem later-stage disease progression.

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis patients in the U.S. now have an option besides riluzole, which was approved by the FDA more than two decades ago and only extends life by two or three months.

Researchers identify a new ALS-associated gene thanks to funds generated by the social media challenge that went viral in summer 2014.

At first blush, do-it-yourself clinical trials seem pointless and reckless. But a deeper truth pervades the research and the patients who drive it forward.

Researchers uncover evidence that a retrovirus embedded within the human genome may play a role in the pathology of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. 

A year after the viral ALS awareness campaign raised millions, researchers say they have something to show for the influx of funds.

In the midst of a debate about an experimental drug’s early approval, the US Food and Drug Administration requests that full trial results be released.

Statisticians who normally crunch numbers to forecast trends in the food-service industry turn their attention to bettering treatment of ALS.