The investigators' long term goal is to undertake a clinical trial designed to investigate whether it is possible to delay or prevent the onset of disease amongst people at risk for developing familial ALS (fALS).

One of the major challenges we, the investigators at Emory University, face, as we consider the feasibility of a clinical trial, is how to predict who is at greatest risk for developing ALS within what time frame. In order to try to address this question, we invite all subjects to undergo genetic testing and to complete a short questionnaire regarding possible environmental risks (eg. smoking, pesticide exposure, military service and exercise) so that we can acquire more detailed information about individual and family histories. This information will then be correlated with the results of the genetic testing in order to develop statistical models to enable us to predict which subjects are at greatest risk for developing ALS. This information will help us decide if it is possible to plan a treatment trial in the future.

Results of genetic testing will not be given to participants.