Editorial: Multifaceted Genes in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis-Frontotemporal Dementia

[...]whole genome sequencing of large international ALS-FTD cohorts will begin to fully understand the genetic contribution to disease, particularly when large collaborative cohorts are sequenced such as in project MinE. Rich et al. suggested genome-wide association studies and rare variant association studies represent an attractive option for novel gene discovery because they do not require prior knowledge or hypotheses. [...]Morello et al. discussed the most significant contributions of omics approaches (genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, and metabolomics) in unraveling the biological complexity of ALS, highlighting how holistic systems biology approaches and multi-omics data integration are ideal to provide comprehensive characterization of patient-specific molecular signatures that could potentially guide therapeutic decisions. Building on multi-disciplinary efforts of international consortia such as Project MinE (www.projectmine.com), GENFI (http://genfi.org.uk/) and RiMOD-FTD (https://www.neurodegenerationresearch.eu/initiatives/annual-calls-for-proposals/closed-calls/risk-factors-2012/risk-factor-call-results/rimod-ftd/), we may begin to fully resolve ALS-FTD genetic architecture and understand why individuals carrying a particular variant go on to develop ALS, FTD, or ALS-FTD.