Can exposure to toxins and other environmental factors play a role in the development of sporadic ALS?

Zebrafish can be a useful model to study motor neuron degeneration, and are particularly useful for understanding the role that different cells, such as glial cells, may play in the onset and progression of ALS.

Jessica Morrice, a PhD student in Dr. Christopher A. Shaw’s lab at the University of British Columbia, uses zebrafish to understand how toxins can cause motor neuron degeneration – an understanding that could eventually lead to slowing down or stopping ALS.