Scientists map molecular mechanism that may cause toxic protein buildup in dementing disorders
Friday, August 30, 2013 - 11:00
in Biology & Nature
There is no easy way to study diseases of the brain. Extracting brain cells, or neurons, from a living patient is risky, while examining a patient's brain post-mortem only reveals the disease's final stages. And animal models, while incredibly informative, have fallen short during the crucial drug-development stage of research. But scientists have taken a potentially more powerful approach: An advanced stem-cell technique that creates a human model of degenerative disease in a dish.