In contrast to the worsened SOD1-G93A phenotype obtained upon the genetic ablation of P2X7 (Apolloni et al., 2013b), a treatment started at late pre-onset (100 days), but not at pre-symptomatic phases of the disease or after onset, was indeed shown to moderate ALS progression and improve motor neuron survival. The gene discussed is SOD1; the disease is amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.