{"id":4136,"date":"2022-05-05T10:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-05-05T10:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/modernsciences.org\/staging\/4414\/?p=4136"},"modified":"2022-04-21T07:15:27","modified_gmt":"2022-04-21T07:15:27","slug":"als-is-only-50-genetic-identifying-dna-regions-affected-by-lifestyle-and-environmental-risk-factors-could-help-pinpoint-avenues-for-treatment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/modernsciences.org\/staging\/4414\/als-is-only-50-genetic-identifying-dna-regions-affected-by-lifestyle-and-environmental-risk-factors-could-help-pinpoint-avenues-for-treatment\/","title":{"rendered":"ALS is only 50% genetic \u2013 identifying DNA regions affected by lifestyle and environmental risk factors could help pinpoint avenues for treatment"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\n Epigenetics is how behavior and environment affect gene expression.\n Iryna Dobytchina\/iStock via Getty Images Plus<\/a><\/span>\n <\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>\n\nRamona Zwamborn<\/a>, Utrecht University<\/a><\/em>; Jan Veldink<\/a>, Utrecht University<\/a><\/em>, and Paul J. Hop<\/a>, Utrecht University<\/a><\/em><\/span>\n\n

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis<\/a> is a devastating neurodegenerative disease that affects about 1 in 50,000 people<\/a>. Well-known people who suffered from ALS include baseball player Lou Gehrig<\/a>, who lived two years after he was diagnosed, and scientist Stephen Hawking<\/a>, who lived for an extraordinary 55 years after his diagnosis. While the severity and speed of disease progression vary from person to person<\/a>, most people with ALS die within two to five years after diagnosis. No effective therapy<\/a> currently exists.<\/p>\n\n

Little is known about what causes or increases someone\u2019s risk of developing ALS. Researchers think it\u2019s only around 50% genetic<\/a>, indicating that there are strong environmental and lifestyle risk factors affecting disease development. But very few of these risk factors have been identified.<\/p>\n\n

We<\/a> are<\/a> a<\/a> team of neuroscientists<\/a> with a special interest in epigenetics<\/a>, the study of how the environment influences DNA. By examining the epigenetics of ALS, we found that differences in metabolism, cholesterol and immunity may play a role in disease progression.<\/p>\n\n

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