Parkin has ubiquitin-protein ligase activity (Imai et al. 2000; Shimura et al. 2000; Zhang et al. 2000) and the accumulation of toxic Parkin substrates likely contributes to the degeneration of dopaminergic neurons in Parkinson’s patients and animal models (Whitworth et al. 2005). The gene discussed is PRKN; the disease is Parkinson disease.