UCLA researchers develop blood test for earlier, more accurate ALS detection

ALS patients face progressive paralysis and shortened life expectancy (2-5 years post-diagnosis), with early detection potentially extending survival and quality of life.

In the long struggle against one of medicine's most unforgiving diseases, researchers at UCLA Health have taken a quiet but consequential step forward: a blood test that reads fragments of dying-cell DNA to detect ALS earlier and more precisely than anything that came before. For the roughly 30,000 Americans living with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis — and the 5,000 more diagnosed each year — time is the rarest currency, and a diagnosis delayed is survival surrendered. By pairing cell-free DNA analysis with machine learning, the team has opened a door that was not previously known to exist, one

UCLA researchers develop blood test for earlier, more accurate ALS detection

Related Coverage

Get The Register in your inbox