Unlike most cells in the human body, neurons—the functional cells of our nervous system—cannot typically replace themselves with healthy copies after being damaged.

Rather, after an injury from something like a stroke, concussion or neurodegenerative disease, neurons and their axons, fiber-like projections that relay electrical signals, are far more likely to degrade than regenerate.

But new research from the University of Michigan opens new ways to think about neurodegeneration that could help protect patients against that degradation and neurological decline in the future.

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, is an incurable neurological disorder affecting motor neurons—nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord that control voluntary muscle movement and breathing.

Many ALS clinical trials, including those testing promising drugs, have fallen short of expectations—often because the extent of the disease can vary, and patients don’t respond the same way to medications.

But a new study led by scientists at Case Western Reserve University used stem cells created from ALS patients to target a specific gene as a kind of shut-off valve for what stresses nerve cells —and it worked.

We speak with neurologist Helen Bronte-Stewart, who conducted research that led to the development of a technology recently approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.