Researchers at Emory University say they have run mouse studies that help to prove that eliminating a gene which triggers Huntington's disease--the focus of drugs in the clinic--shouldn't have any unexpected health consequences in adults. That huntingtin gene, which triggers brain cell death, is vitally necessary for embryonic development. But this animal study provides some added evidence that eliminating the gene in adults won't spur side effects. That's a theory, though, that will have to be tested carefully in human trials. Release
> Investigators at Lund University say that the accumulation of amyloid beta in the brain is associated with elevated levels of certain amyloid peptides in cerebrospinal fluid, making them candidates for the disease even if they do not have a hereditary risk. Release
> A rare type of language dementia, primary progressive aphasia, has been linked with the accumulation of toxic amyloid clusters on the left side of the brain, where language is processed. Release