Epigenetic Signals in ALS

Researchers built a blood test that reads tissue-origin signals from DNA methylation to track dying tissues in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). In two international groups, it separated ALS from controls with area under the curve values of 0.82 and 0.99, and from other neurological diseases with 0.91. The tissue signals come from skeletal muscle, small intestine, and T-cells, and the test even flagged a previously asymptomatic C9orf72 carrier, with a strong link to disease progression—offering a noninvasive way to monitor ALS.