Prof David Lyons features on Scotland Tonight

Professor David Lyons, Centre for Discovery Brain Sciences, featured on Scotland Tonight on STV to talk about his research using zebrafish to study how Multiple Sclerosis (MS) damages the protective coating around nerves, known as myelin.

Prof Lyons and his team have developed a revolutionary approach to study and potentially reverse the damage caused by MS. This innovative research has led to insights and drugs now moving towards clinical trials.

A trailer for 'Hope in the Battle Against MS' featuring Prof David Lyons

Transcript

0:00

[Applause]

0:05

so we've got in the facility about 4,000

0:09

tanks like these of sort of different

0:12

sizes So what we can do using zebra fish

0:15

is to induce damage to myelin in the

0:18

living animal Now these zebra fish that

0:20

we study are tiny They're tiny and

0:22

transparent And we can use genetic tools

0:25

to make various cells in the nervous

0:27

system flues So we can actually use

0:29

powerful microscopes to directly image

0:32

and look into the brain and see how

0:35

myelin damage unfolds So we've already

0:37

found drugs that are reducing milein

0:40

damage and this is super exciting Does

0:43

that mean potentially there could be

0:44

drugs available that may cure MS right

0:47

well that's the hope If those drugs are

0:49

as effective in people as they have

0:50

proven to be in various animal models

0:53

then I think there's real hope that once

0:56

we know exactly how to treat people that

0:58

we can help boost the myin repair and

1:01

undo some of the damage caused by

1:03

disease

Read a synopsis about the programme on the STV News website here

Publication date

02 May, 2025