10/14/2026
Motor neurons are nerve cells that carry messages from your brain and spinal cord to your muscles, telling them to move.
Every time you walk, speak, swallow, pick up a coffee cup, or take a breath, motor neurons are at work.
In ALS, these cells progressively become damaged and die. Without the signals they send, muscles weaken and eventually lose their ability to function.
When Project ALS founder Jenifer Estess was diagnosed with ALS at 35, she asked a simple but ambitious question:
“If we can replace damaged hearts and lungs, why can’t we replace dying motor neurons?”
That question launched Project ALS.
We set out to understand exactly what happens to motor neurons in ALS, why they die, how we might protect them, and ultimately, whether we could repair or replace them.
Today, Project ALS researchers grow human motor neurons in the lab, including neurons made from cells donated by people living with ALS. We use them to study disease, identify potential treatments, and explore ways to protect, repair, and rejuvenate these critical cells.
More than 28 years later, Jenifer’s question still drives us:
How do we keep motor neurons alive, and how can what we learn lead us to the first effective treatments for ALS?
