Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) is a rare complex genetic condition. The lifetime risk of the condition is 1 in 300 with a prevalence in Ireland of 2.6/100,000. A population based register has been in place in Ireland since 1994, including data from over 1800 patients. The Irish ALS group collaborates with similar population based registers in Holland and Italy, and is a partner in an FP7 funded study (EUROMOTOR http://www.euromotorproject.eu/) that takes a system biology approach towards understanding the condition.
The aims of this project are to determine the spatial distribution of ALS in Ireland, specifically interrogating the Irish ALS Register to identify specific geographic or environmental risks to the development of ALS; to determine whether specific environmental or occupational exposures increase the risk of developing ALS by interrogating the EUROMOTOR Exposomic dataset comprising a case control study of over 1500 ALS cases and 3000 controls in Ireland, Holland and Italy; and to determine whether specific genotypes in ALS are associated with specific geographic loci, or environmental/occupational exposures.
On completion, the project will advance the field beyond state of the art and will improve our understanding of the links between ALS and geographic origin, environmental exposures, and genomics.
