All the president's kin
Did Abraham Lincoln have ataxia? Groundbreaking research provides new insight into this neurological disease — and a glimpse into history.
For the past dozen years, people who are related to Abraham Lincoln have been gathering in Indiana, Iowa, and Kentucky — and University of Minnesota researchers have been there.
The researchers, led by Laura Ranum, Ph.D., come not to hear stories of the Great Emancipator or to share potato salad and coffee, but to collect DNA samples and to learn more about the Lincoln family's medical history. The 299 vials of blood they have carried back to Minnesota over the years contain vital clues to the mystery of spinocerebellar ataxia, a devastating neurological disease that affects about 150,000 Americans.
These scientists are especially qualified to sort through the clues contained in those blood vials. And their work has not only uncovered a genetic secret encoded in the Lincoln family DNA for at least 11 generations; it has also led them to discoveries that may shed light on the mysteries of Alzheimer's disease, Lou Gehrig's disease, and other neurological disorders.
Video
Researchers have discovered the gene responsible for a type of ataxia, an incurable degenerative brain disease affecting movement and coordination. The finding has historical implications as well: The gene has been identified in at least 11 generations of President Abraham Lincoln's family. Watch a video about the research project.
Play video (1:51)