Hundreds of genes could lie behind a single disease

Professor Aarno Palotie from the Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland (FIMM) focuses on genetic analysis of diseases by utilising large quantities of data gathered from subjects. Together with his research team, he has been able to use data analysis to demonstrate that the underlying causes of various neurological diseases consist of numerous genes, instead of a single genetic mutation. For example, there are hundreds of different genes that affect a person’s predisposition to migraine, epilepsy, Parkinson’s disease or Alzheimer’s disease.