In a first, scientists have identified and successfully erased the effects of a key gene that significantly increases the risk for Alzheimer's disease.
Having one copy of the apoE4 gene more than doubles a person's likelihood of developing Alzheimer's disease, and having two copies of the gene increases the risk by 12-fold, as compared to the most common version of the gene, apoE3.
The apoE4 gene creates a protein of the same name. The apoE4 protein differs from the apoE3 protein at only one point, but that single change is enough to alter its main structure and, thus, its function, researchers said.
Researchers from the Gladstone Institutes in the US were also able to erase the damage caused by apoE4 by changing it, with a small molecule, into a harmless apoE3-like version.