However, researchers now contest the previously assigned bystander status of muscle in ALS, suggesting that muscle defects occur independently of motor neuron degeneration, and while denervation inarguably affects muscle [300], muscle fibers in ALS are more severely affected by denervation than normal muscle fibers as muscle fibers in ALS have reduced Ach affinity [32]. This evidence concerns the gene FGFR3 and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.