The authors of the new work believe that Allheimer's disease may be associated with fairly rare variations in
To do this, they completely decoded the DNA of more than 2,000 Alzheimer's carriers and their relatives, as well as almost 1,700 people who were not related to each other.
Next, the authors compared sets of rare mutations andisolated 13 from it, which are associated with the development of Alzheimer's disease. Many of the genes in which these mutations were found are responsible for the formation of new synapses, the growth of neurons, and also control their plasticity.
Harvard University Professor Rudolf Tanzistated that in the near future his team will study the effect of these mutations on the functioning of nerve cells and the entire nervous system as a whole: they will introduce similar DNA variations into the genome of stem cells and grow miniature versions of the brain from them.
Scientists hope that this will bring humanity closer to the creation of the first effective drugs for Alzheimer's disease.
Read more
The first accurate map of the world was created. What's wrong with everyone else?
The most stormy place on Earth: why Drake Passage is the most dangerous route to Antarctica
New uranium compound breaks record for anomalous conductivity