Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also called Lou Gehrig's disease, is a motor neuron disease that affects the brain and spinal cord. The disease causes motor neurons to degenerate, which eventually leads to neuron death and muscular degeneration. Hundreds of mutations in the Cu/Zn superoxide dismutase (SOD1) gene have been found to cause ALS. Gene silencing has been used to knock down the SOD1 mutant that is characteristic of ALS. In specific, siRNA molecules have been successfully used to target the SOD1 mutant gene and reduce its expression through allele-specific gene silencing.