The new ALS blood test promises rapid diagnosis

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is one of the most serious known neurological disorders, and the time it takes for patients to obtain an accurate diagnosis has been hampered

Scientists at the Brain Chemistry Laboratory developed an ALS blood test in 2020 based on microribonucleic acid, a short fragment of genetic material, which is found in extracellular vesicles

Researchers from the Brain Chemistry Laboratory, Dartmouth's Department of Neurology and the Centers for Disease Control, published today in the journal Neuroscience, report that they were able to replicate the original test

By comparing blind blood samples from 50 ALS patients and 50 controls from the U.

Lead author Dr Sandra Barnak said: "We were surprised that the microRNA test was effective

Her colleague Drs

The new blood test is being validated at the Brain Chemistry Laboratory in Jackson Hole, which has filed a patent

Article title

miRNA extracted from extracellular vesicles is a robust biomarker of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis