One Small Step
By JR Minkel
On supporting science journalism
If you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.
Researchers have turned human embryonic stem cells into spinal motor neurons, the long threadlike cells that carry signals from the spinal cord to the limbs and whose death paralyzes victims of spinal cord injury and disease. As an embryo develops in the womb, a changing mix of chemical factors prompts stem cells to morph into different kinds of neurons at specific times. A group led by Su-Chun Zhang at the University of Wisconsin–Madison hit on the combination of retinoic acid and a signaling molecule called sonic hedgehog to mimic the time when stem cells become spinal motor neurons, allowing them to grow the cells at will. The results, published in the February Nature Biotechnology, should enable scientists to look for drugs and develop treatments to counteract spinal cord disease. The late actor Christopher Reeve had lobbied for stem cell research for precisely this purpose.
It’s Time to Stand Up for Science
If you enjoyed this article, I’d like to ask for your support. Scientific American has served as an advocate for science and industry for 180 years, and right now may be the most critical moment in that two-century history.
I’ve been a Scientific American subscriber since I was 12 years old, and it helped shape the way I look at the world. SciAm always educates and delights me, and inspires a sense of awe for our vast, beautiful universe. I hope it does that for you, too.
If you subscribe to Scientific American, you help ensure that our coverage is centered on meaningful research and discovery; that we have the resources to report on the decisions that threaten labs across the U.S.; and that we support both budding and working scientists at a time when the value of science itself too often goes unrecognized.
In return, you get essential news, captivating podcasts, brilliant infographics, can't-miss newsletters, must-watch videos, challenging games, and the science world's best writing and reporting. You can even gift someone a subscription.
There has never been a more important time for us to stand up and show why science matters. I hope you’ll support us in that mission.
