We are pleased to announce the addition of two new members to the Project MinE consortium. A warm welcome to Prof. Dr. Andreas Hermann from Rostock University Medical Center, Germany, and Dr. Rossella Spataro and Prof. Dr. Francesca Luisa Conforti from Villa delle Ginestre Hospital in Palermo, Italy.
The Longitude Prize on ALS, a £7.5 million global challenge, has officially announced its 20 Discovery Award winners. Following a global call to action, these promising teams were chosen from almost 100 entries to receive £100,000 each. Beyond the financial award, these teams have gained access to the most comprehensive ALS patient dataset ever compiled, featuring genomic sequences of 9,000 patients and epigenomics, transcriptomics, and proteomics data for over 2,000 cases. As key data contributor to the Longitude Prize on ALS, Project MinE harmonised previously scattered and heterogeneous whole genome sequencing datasets into a single, coherent and usable joint dataset, enabling a smooth and efficient start for the participating teams.
Researchers from Project MinE have identified new genetic abnormalities that play a role in the development of ALS. As a result, the proportion of patients for whom a genetic cause can be identified of the neuromuscular disease has increased from 20 to 25 percent. The discovery also improves understanding of the disease and may, in time, support the development of targeted treatments for a subset of patients.
On December 4th 2025, at the 36th International Symposium on ALS/MND in San Diego, Jan Veldink presented updates on Data Freeze 3 (DF3), recent advances in in-house WGS capacity, plans for Data Freeze 4 (DF4) and updates were presented from a number of working groups by Johnathan Cooper-Knock, Kevin Kenna, Alfredo Iacoangeli and Ross Byrne.