sfl is the ortholog of human N-deacetylase/N-sulfotransferase (heparan glucosaminyl) 2 (O’brien et al. 2005) and was down-regulated in G85R flies but up-regulated in the motoneurons of human ALS patients (Jiang et al. 2005). Here, SHFL is linked to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.