The treatment of ischemic stroke entered a new era in 1995, with the release of the results of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke trial with recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (r-tPA) [5], which showed that reestablishing blood flow in the first 3 h after stroke onset is able to salvage much of the hypoperfused cerebral tissue and improve patient outcome. The gene discussed is PLAT; the disease is ischemic stroke.