An interesting feature of the study was that even though this was a study of people with apparently sporadic ALS, there were associations in genes previously identified from family-based studies –C9orf72,TBK1, andNEK1 – further supporting the notion that familial and sporadic ALS are not mutually exclusive categories but rather a spectrum74–76. This evidence concerns the gene C9orf72 and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.