Advancing knowledge of human development, developmental disabilities, and neurodegenerative diseases.
Researchers at the University of Wisconsin–Madison have found a switch that redirects helper cells in the peripheral nervous system into “repair” mode, a form that restores damaged axons. Axons are long fibers on neurons that transmit nerve impulses. The peripheral nervous system, the signaling network outside the brain and spinal cord, has some ability to …
In their photographs, Jenni and Kyle Geurkink look like happy, healthy children. Jenni has a captivating smile and a twinkle in her eyes. Kyle is a sturdy toddler who loves brooms, mops and any occasion to laugh. First Christmases, first birthdays, first playtimes with cousins—these are just a few of the images of Jenni and …
Every day, Waisman Center researcher John Svaren deals with nerves – peripheral nerves, that is. Peripheral nerves connect the brain and spinal cord to our limbs and organs, serving as vital communication relays that allow us to sense and respond to the world around us. “These nerves are really interesting because they contain some of …
From his sixth-floor laboratory in the University of Wisconsin Waisman Center, Su-Chun Zhang, MD, PhD, has a unique vantage point on the second tower of the Wisconsin Institutes for Medical Research (WIMR II), which is nearing completion.
Alexander disease is a devastating brain disease that almost nobody has heard of — unless someone in the family is afflicted with it. Alexander disease strikes young or old, and in children destroys white matter in the front of the brain.
But the specks in the Petri dishes were the result of years of research in the laboratory of David Gamm, an ophthalmologist at the UW’s Waisman Center. And as members of the Reese family carefully cradled the dishes, they held the future of their descendants’ eyesight in their hands.
The majority of individuals with Rett syndrome are female and are considered genetically 'mosaic' due to random inactivation of the X-chromosome (XCI) which occurs in around half of all their cells.
Boosting levels of two critical proteins that normally shut down during Huntington's disease, researchers at UW-Madison and the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory have cured fruit flies of the genetic, neurodegenerative condition.
Despite a roller-coaster ride of ups and downs during the past 15 years, gene therapy has continued to attract many of the world’s brightest scientists.
Wisconsin Is In The Forefront Of Genetic Screening, So Infant’s Disorder Was Spotted And Treated. Patricia Simms, Wisconsin State Journal Reprinted by Permission Myles Tesky is an unlikely traveler on the frontier of genetic screening. Myles, son of Joel and Amanda Tesky of Deerfield, will celebrate his first birthday on April 11. At 11 months, …
