Genetic Disease Research Project: ALS

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Approximately 5% of ALS cases are inherited and are known as familial ALS. Familial ALS is due to a mutation of the gene superoxide dismutase-1 (SOD1) or other genes. However, most ALS cases do not appear to run in families, and are known as sporadic ALS. In sporadic ALS, normally occurring gene variants acts in concert with environmental triggers to cause the disease.

Regarding Familial ALS (FALS), there are some inheritance patterns, but the most common is called autosomal dominant. This means that it is equally likely that a female or male would inherit the gene mutation for FALS because the gene is located on an autosome – a chromosome that both males and females share in common. And dominant means that a person only needs one gene to have a mutation for an increased risk for ALS. Also, inheriting the gene for FALS does not guarantees that a person will develop ALS and if a child does not inherit the gene mutation for ALS, they cannot pass it onto their children. About ...

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