The prominent convulsant effects of CRH in the immature brain [4], the decreased endogenous adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) in the CSF of children with infantile epileptic spasms syndrome (IESS, previously also infantile spasms) [5], and the marked efficacy of ACTH in IESS [6,7] that persists in subjects after adrenalectomy [8,9] or after pharmacological ablation of adrenals, [10] led to a new theory. The gene discussed is POMC; the disease is infantile spasms.