MS is not inherited, but it looks like they’ve already identified genes as well that increase risk, and risk increases if a family member has it.
The paper only concludes that the gene is inactive when there's demyelination, the paper doesn't actually say that it causes it.
The previous research I've read says that it is expressed during repair (i.e it is the repair tool, so is in play during repair of the cells).
So even for those of us who have GPR17, making sure it is expressed for repair (if it does repair) would mean a longer active brain life.
I've got half-a binder full of research on PRRT2 from a family incident & then the opposite with conductivity research for SCN1A.
The developmental myelination defects are really weird to read about, because if they are about expression rather than presence of a gene & often a single CNV doesn't mean anything (or everything, argh), the environmental factors overwhelm things ("what kind of fat and how much did you eat during your childhood synaptic pruning period").
> Scientists discover the loss of a substance called ‘myelin’ can result in cognitive decline and diseases like Multiple Sclerosis and Alzheimer’s.
MS is pretty much defined as degeneration of the myelin and that has been true for decades.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myelin
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_matter
The new research is in identifying a gene.
But MS is not the only disease is in which demyelination occurs, not by a long shot. Even the definition of MS (when it comes to getting a diagnosis) is a lot more complex than just "degeneration of myelin".
FYI. Sounds like it's related but maybe not directly.
Biology does not work the way humans design things. It’s not one part one function. It’s all parts some functions to varying and often dynamic degrees, a web of interrelationships that is itself in constant flux. It makes us look like cave men disassembling a UFO.
Pharmaceuticals is basically “we throw this molecule in and it seems to do that.” Sometimes we can divine some cause and effect understanding but it’s always surface level and incomplete. How SSRIs supposedly work for depression comes to mind as an example of such an oversimplification.