Discovery May Help Researchers Better Understand the Degenerative Disease
Researchers have found new genes that are associated with an increased risk of Alzheimer's disease.
The three novel genes all appear to play a role in the deposits of a substance called amyloid in the brain -- deposits which characterize Alzheimer's. In this way, the genes resemble another gene which thus far is the only one that researchers have established increases the risk for the disease.
Experts hailed the findings as important new data that supports the role of amyloid in the disease, but most cautioned that there is no immediate significance in the clinical setting.
The three genes -- dubbed CLU, PICALM, and CR1 -- were reported in two separate studies, published online in the journal Nature Genetics, which used a method called genome-wide association scanning.
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