An international team led by human genetic researchers at UBC and Vancouver Coastal Health has identified the latest gene associated with typical late-onset Parkinson's disease with the help of a Canadian Mennonite family of Dutch-German-Russian ancestry.

Twelve of the 57 members of the Saskatchewan family who participated in the study had previously been diagnosed with Parkinson's. They contributed clinical information, blood samples, participated in PET imaging studies and even donated brain samples following the death of some family members, said UBC genetics expert Matthew Farrer, who led the research.

Farrer referred to the discovery as the "missing link," as it helps to unify past genetic discoveries about Parkinson's.