Commonly called ALS or Lou Gehrig’s disease, the neurodegenerative disease kills off motor nerves and brain cells and inhibits the muscles responsible for moving, eating, and breathing. ALS has no cure, in part because of the difficult nature of studying the affected cells. A discovery led by Gregorio Valdez, an assistant professor at the Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute, might make researching the mechanisms of the disease easier.

See more