the disease is named after warren tay and bernard sachs who first described the disease in the late 19th century. after the discovery, he noticed a red spot on the retina of a one year old child. the child was experiencing the same symptoms of the disease. bernard sachs was a neurologist from the united states. he was the first person to describe the cellular changes from the disease. in 1969, researchers discovered that tay-sachs is caused by a lack of the enzyme hexosaminidase a.