A cure for spinal muscular atrophy — a disease which attacks nerve cells and affects one in 6,000 births — may be found in the zebrafish.
Researchers in Singapore have spent the last five years experimenting the neuron behaviour of the freshwater fish during which they inject a substance into the fish’s embryo making their genes behave like those with the spinal disease.
Through their experiments, the scientists found out that there are low activity levels of the disease in a gene called neurexin two.
They also believe that the neuron function in infected embryos can be recovered by restoring activity levels of neurexin two.
In the long run, researchers hope that neurexin two can be developed as a drug to treat spinal disease in human beings though it may take five years or even longer, according to Christoph Winkler, associate professor at the National University of Singapore (NUS).
Photo: AFP
Source: Channel NewsAsia
