A major new DNA mapping project, which aims to discover the causes of motor neurone disease (MND), has been launched in Ireland.

MND is the name given to a group of diseases in which there is progressive degeneration of the motor neurones in the brain and spinal cord. Motor neurones are the nerve cells that control muscles, and their degeneration therefore leads to weakness and wasting of the muscles. This causes an increasing loss of mobility in the limbs and difficulties with speech, swallowing and breathing.

There is currently no cure for the disease. Around 110 people are newly diagnosed in Ireland every year and over 300 people and their families are currently living with the disease. 

Trinity College Dublin (TCD) recently saw the launch of the Irish arm of a new worldwide project, which aims to use DNA profiles to discover the genetic cause of MND.

While the cause of the disease is known in about 10-15% of cases, for up to 90% of those affected, the cause is unknown, but is thought to be due to a combination of genetic and environmental factors.

In fact, scientists are certain that most forms of the disease are genetic in basis. To this end, an international team has come together to begin ‘an unprecedented large scale genetic mapping project called Project MinE, which will map the DNA of at least 15,000 people with MND and 7,500 control subjects', TCD said.

These international scientists include a team from TCD's newly established Academic Unit of Neurology. The Irish team plans to sequence at least 400 full DNA profiles - known as genomes - from MND patients and control patients from all over Ireland.

It is hoped that by examining the genomes of thousands of MND patients and controls in detail, more information about the various genes involved will be discovered.

The Irish team is headed up by consultant neurologist, Prof Orla Hardiman, and she insisted that Ireland is a ‘very good place to do this type of research'.

"While we have a smaller population than colleagues in mainland Europe or the US, this can be used to our advantage as the complexity of the genetic background is lower which simplifies the search for disease genes," she explained.

She also noted that the relatively small size of Ireland ‘allows us to uniquely identify people who are distantly related to each other, which can help when studying rare genetic variations in people with diseases like MND'.

All data from the TCD research will be shared with international collaborators and vice versa.

"But perhaps more importantly, the Trinity data will be shared with our colleagues and collaborators in Ireland who are engaged in similar research into different diseases. This approach will allow Irish researchers to build on the existing world class expertise in genomics within Trinity, and will provide superb training opportunities for younger scientists interested in exploring the huge potential of integrative genomics," Prof Hardiman insisted.

TCD also emphasised that members of the public have a chance to make a ‘unique and direct controbution to this important scientific research by sponsoring the mapping of these DNA samples'.

Anyone interested can log on here and donate any amount of money, or choose to sponsor a single chromosome or even a full DNA profile.

The college added that ‘100% of all donations and funds raised for Project MinE will go directly towards the mapping and analysis of DNA profiles'.