Research conducted by Laura Fontenas, a postdoctoral fellow in the Kucenas lab, has identified a new approach to repairing damage in the peripheral nervous system. Led by Sarah Kucenas, the study will be published April 2 issue of the journal Cell Reports. Using zebrafish as a study model (about 80 percent of a zebrafish’s nervous-system genes are the same as in humans), Kucenas and Fontenas discovered that "oligodendrocytes are actively segregated to the central nervous system through tight control of neural activity. But they don’t necessarily have to be." “This finding has a very real potential to change how we think about approaching the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases,” Kucenas said. “My hope is that someday our discoveries will help children with impairing neurological diseases to be able to get out of their wheelchairs and live an enhanced quality of life.” To read the entire UvaToday article, please click here.