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Research from the Sant Pau Research Institute (IR Sant Pau) has discovered a gene linked to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Researchers led by neurologist Dr. Ricard Rojas-García from the Neuromuscular Diseases Group and the Dementia Neurobiology Group of the Sant Pau Research Institute (IR Sant Pau), alongside the Memory Unit of the Sant Pau Hospital, have identified a new mutation in the ARPP21 gene that could be the cause of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), a devastating neurodegenerative disease. Specifically, it is a shared mutation (c.1586C>T; p.Pro529Leu) in the ARPP21 gene that codes for an RNA-binding protein and has been found...

Philip O'Keefe, a 62-year-old amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) patient in Australia recently became the first person to post a message on social media using only his thoughts. On December 23, he posted an initial brief message, "Hello World," on Twitter. The technology that allowed O'Keefe to send his message was developed by brain computer interface company, Synchron—the device is called the Stentrode Brain Computer Interface (SBCI); a type of endovascular brain implant. It was implanted into O'Keefe's brain without opening his skull—instead, it was inserted through his jugular vein. The tiny (8 mm) brain implant was designed to allow people...

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), often known as motor neurone disease, slowly kills off nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord, causing paralysis and eventually death. Right now, there's no known cure – but we might have just gotten closer to finding one. In a new study, scientists were able to reverse one of the biological abnormalities that ALS introduces in cells. It's important to note this has only been achieved for one form of the disease so far, and only in lab samples, rather than in actual human beings. Even with those caveats, though, it's a significant step forward...