Researchers say they’ve identified a gene responsible for ataxia -- a rare, incurable degenerative brain disease affecting movement and coordination.And they did it with the help of DNA shared by President Abraham Lincoln.A team at the University of Minnesota Medical School found that Spinocerebellar ataxia type 5 (SCA5) is associated with a mutation in the a-III spectrin protein, which plays an important role in maintaining the health of nerve cells.Interestingly, the researchers identified this gene in an 11-generation family descended from the grandparents of Abraham Lincoln. The researchers collected and examined DNA samples from more than 300 Lincoln descendents."We are excited about this discovery because it provides a genetic test that will lead to improved patient diagnoses, and gives us new insight into the causes of ataxia and other neurodegenerative diseases, an important step towards developing an effective treatment,” study senior investigator Laura Ranum, a professor of genetics, cell biology and development, said in a prepared statement.The study appears in the Jan. 22 online issue of Nature Genetics.
