Melbourne researchers are one step closer to finding a cure for Motor Neurone Disease (MND).
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 effective treatment or even a cure for MND.
It previously took decades for labs to determine whether drugs on the market could be used for MND treatment, but new machines at the institute can reach the same conclusion in just weeks.
“This is an absolute breakthrough, it’s at the cutting edge of technology,” Florey MND researcher Professor Brad Turner said.
Previously animal cells were used to test the efficacy of MND drugs, but 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.
Florey MND researcher and neurologist Dr Thanuja Dharmadasa said the animal cells cells did not provide scientists with the full scope of the human disease.
“This is really a game-changer in that we can use their own cells, and we can test drugs directly on their own cells,” Dharmadasa said.
Large scale screening will now commence thanks to a $5 million grant from the Australian Medical Research Future Fund.
The research is expected to provide help for people like Phil Camden who has been living with MND 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.”
It’s believed medication or a cocktail of drugs tailored specifically to a patient is the way forward when it comes to treating MND.
“Therefore your drug treatments are tailed back to the clinical makeup in the dish and we call that personalised medical treatment,” Turner said.
Researchers hope this kind of technology can be applied to others diseases in future.