Washington, DC - A potential development in the fight against the deadly neurological disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) has been suggested by a recent study carried out on mice. ALS, also referred to as Lou Gehrig's disease, affects about 30,000 Americans at any given time and severely damages nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord. The majority of patients pass away from the illness within five years after diagnosis, and the ailment causes a progressive loss of cognitive and physical abilities. Photo by Tima Miroshnichenko The study, led by Jeffrey Agar of Northeastern University, was published in the journal PLOS Biology. It targets and stabilizes an enzyme that is essential for protecting cells from toxic byproducts produced during respiration and metabolic activities. Many cases of ALS are caused by mutations in the SOD1 gene, which codes for this enzyme. Some mutations in this gene occur occasionally. Mutations in SOD1 genes cause the corresponding protein to misfo...