Fred H. Gage Talks About Using Embryonic Stem Cells to Model Disease

Blue H2O Productions

Embryonic stem cells and induced pluripotent stem cells offer the first glimpse of how cells such as neurons develop from their embryonic state, giving researchers a way of studying both how the cells develop normally and what goes wrong in many different diseases. This novel way of studying diseases could lead to new ways of treating or preventing life-threatening conditions. Dr. Fred H. Gage has CIRM grants to mature embryonic stem cells into neurons that can be used to study Amyolateral Sclerosis (ALS) and Parkinson’s Disease, and to develop new cell lines from people with those diseases as a way of understanding how the diseases develop. A list of his CIRM awards is available here. Gage is Professor and Vi and John Adler Chair for Research on Age-Related Neurodegenerative Diseases in the Laboratory of Genetics at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies.