Question about mice with ALS?

[4rhl1981]

How do researchers induce ALS in mice if they don't know what causes ALS?

 

[Marjorie R. Wilcox]

Probably they play tricks with the auto immune system or cut off nutrition fed to the muscles from the nerves somehow............because that's what ALS does, I understand.

 

[JohnMc]

Don't know for sure, but I think the mouse studies are done on the familial form of ALS - they think they know which gene is related to this.

 

[ZenArcher]

They use mice that have the SOD1 mutation related to familial ALS. It expresses the gene approximately 30 times more than humans. For more info Google G93A-SOD1.