As foundries were the drivers of the industrial revolution, databases are the drivers of the information revolution. Some of these legacy databases provide details on the course of ALS for those patients eligible for clinical trials, and who were therefore less impacted by the disease process. The databases will provide a real-time foundation for modeling the early stages of ALS. As with some of the insights derived from databases in cancer and other diseases, such as cystic fibrosis, there will emerge a set of benchmarks to be achieved and improved upon as we forge ahead with developing better treatment for patients with ALS.

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