Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), is a rapidly progressive, invariably fatal neurological disease that attacks the nerve cells responsible for controlling voluntary muscles. The disease belongs to a group of disorders known as motor neuron diseases, which are characterized by the gradual degeneration and death of motor neurons. In 1993 scientists supported by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) discovered that mutations in the gene that produces the SOD1

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... were associated with some cases of familial ALS. This paper reviews about the genetic causes of ALS in a systematic approach.