Have a look at this great Project MinE video! Professor of Neurology in Trinity, Orla Hardiman and Trinity geneticist Dr Russell McLaughlin talk about Project MinE, the ground breaking ALS/ MND genetics research taking place in 16 countries worldwide. Project MinE aims to discover the genetic causes of Motor Neurone Disease.

DNA profile: 3 billion letter genetic code

Every cell of our body contains DNA, the genetic code consisting of 3 billion letters. A mutation is basically a typo in this DNA. Some mutations in some genes can cause an increased risk of ALS. And it’s those mutations and genes that Project MinE wants to find.

Finding in a typo in the DNA

Searching for such a mutation in the DNA is a bit like searching a typo in all of the English language wikipedia. This is now actually possible thanks to the newest technology that’s being used by Project MinE. We are sequencing the DNA of thousands of ALS patients and healthy controls to find the mutations that can cause ALS.