New gene identified for familial motor neuron disease

Families suffering from a history of motor neuron disease have helped an international scientific team locate a new gene linked to the incurable disease. The investigators studied a large group of Finnish patients and a family from Gwent, South Wales who have lost many relatives to early onset motor neuron disease (MND) and the neurodegenerative disease fronto-temporal dementia, also known as Pick's disease. The team, including scientists from Cardiff University, the University of Manchester and UCL, discovered that both the Gwent family and the Finnish patients share a changed genetic segment on the short arm of chromosome 9. Five thousand people in the UK have MND, and well known sufferers have included David Niven and Don Revie. The disease has recently been diagnosed in the South African rugby player Joost van der Westhuizen. The disease is progressive and fatal, with an average survival from onset of symptoms between two and five years. Motor neuron scientists have been studying chromosome 9 for some years but until now have not been able to pinpoint the gene that causes the disease.