Principal Investigator H Horvitz
Project Website http://web.mit.edu/horvitz/www/researchlinks/human.html
In collaboration with others, we showed that one gene responsible for the inherited form of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS or Lou Gehrig’s disease) encodes the enzyme Cu/Zn superoxide dismutase (SOD), which catalyzes the conversion of the free radical superoxide to hydrogen peroxide. We are now seeking other genes responsible for ALS and studying C. elegans models of human genetic neurologic and/or aging disorders, including a progeroid variant of Ehlers-Danlos syndrome.