"Absolute breakthrough": New hope in search for Motor Neurone Disease cure
Melbourne researchers are one step closer to finding a cure for Motor Neurone Disease, with the help technology and stem cell research.
Scientists at The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health have developed a world-first technology that will speed up the drug testing process to help find an effective treatment and maybe even a cure for the disease.
New machines at the institute can now help determine whether drugs on the market could be used to treat MND in just weeks, a process which previously took decades.
"This is an absolute breakthrough, it's at the cutting edge of technology," Florey MND researcher Professor Brad Turner said.
Animal cells were previously used to test the efficacy of MND drugs, but now thanks to more than 100 MND patients who donated their skin cells to the institute, researchers have a library of stem cells to work with.
The human stem cells can provide scientists with the full scope of the disease, something that they were previously unable to do with just animal cells.
"This is really a game-changer in that we can use their own cells, and we can test drugs directly on their own cells," Florey MND researcher and neurologist Dr Thanuja Dharmadasa said.
Large scale screening will commence thanks to a $5 million grant from the Australian Medical Research Future Fund.
The research is expected to help people like Phil Camden who has been living with the disease for 10 years.
"That's the key to all of us living with MND... we want to do what we can while we can," Camden said.
"We know we're not doing it to find a cure for us. We're doing it for those in the future, my grandkids and their children."
Scientists believe that medication or a cocktail of drugs tailored specifically to a patient is the way forward when it comes to treating the disease.
"Therefore your drug treatments are tailed back to the clinical makeup in the dish and we call that personalised medical treatment," Turner said.
Image: Nine News