Dr. Nichols, in his remarks to this newspaper, noted: “I would not be surprised if there were not some company that will soon offer genetic testing for Parkinson's disease, maybe even at the prenatal level, because people are willing to pay for it.”
Dr. Brice noted that identification of the gene and the mutation should lead to a better understanding of the pathologic mechanism underlying Parkinson's disease, which will “hopefully lead to new treatments,” he said. The last page on the genetic basis of Parkinson's disease is yet to be written, and it promises to be very exciting.