Though the nature of the underlying metabolic defect which leads to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) remains obscure, certain biochemical anomalies have been found, such as, reduced RNA content in ALS motor neurons. Recently, a gene causing the familial form of ALS (FALS) has been assigned to an interval of approximately 10 cM including the locus D21S58 on chromosome 21q22.1. This region includes the GART gene which encodes an enzyme catalyzing three steps in the de novo biosynthesis of purine nucleotides which are precursors for RNA. A defect of this gene might result in reduced RNA production and predispose to premature death of motor neurons. In order to test GART as a candidate we developed two highly informative DNA markers in this region and carried out linkage analyses for FALS. GART is excluded as a candidate for FALS.