A rare genetic disorder, ALD affects one male in 20,000. In its worst form, it strikes boys between ages 5 and 12. Attacking the central nervous system, it rapidly destroys the myelin sheaths surrounding nerves, causing paralysis, muteness, or other symptoms.
Death can occur within a few years.
The small percentage of sequences that form exons, the working parts of genes. The ALD gene was found by an international team of researchers who had earlier tried other methods without success. Faulty genes cause thousands of different diseases and disorders, so there's plenty of seeking to be done. Consider the Earth Observing System, a network of NASA satellites that will soon begin tracking weather, vegetation patterns, greenhouse gases, and a host of other phenomena. The words barely begin to do justice to the flood of information.