Irish DNA research may help defeat motor neurone disease

Irish geneticists have played a leading role in isolating three genes that shed light on the underlying causes of motor neurone disease.

More than 180 scientists from 17 countries, including Ireland, used DNA samples donated by over 12,000 patients with MND and a further 23,000 by healthy individuals.

The study, published in the journal Nature Genetics, pointed the scientists towards three previously unknown genes. It also provided the best indication yet of how exactly they should continue their search for the causes of MND.