Alzheimer's disease is the most common form of dementia, the most feared age related disease. There is no cure only drugs that can slow the affects. The key to curing the disease is the removal of the plaque build up in the brain.Researchers from the university of San Diego have found a sea squirt that may hold the key to curing this disease; the sea squirt Ciona intestinalis. While not actually being able to cure any disease through some magical protein the sea squirt is the humans closest invertebrate relative and shares 80% of its DNA with humans making it an amazing model for DNA studies with its ability to incorporate foreign DNA.
This Sea squirt can exhibit the traits of someone with Alzheimer's disease if given the DNA of someone with the disease to incorporate into themselves. While not being able to cure the disease the sea squirt gives us the next best thing; a model to quickly and effectively study Alzheimer's.
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This is really cool! I wouldn't have thought of using sea squirts to study Alzheimer's. The advancements we are making in medical research are just amazing!
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