Growing numbers of dementia cases are one of the biggest challenges for public health systems, but we still do not have a cure for this condition. Controversies have blighted Alzheimer’s science over the past year, meaning that access to effective treatments looks further off than ever. Do we need to improve our understanding of Alzheimer’s disease before we can cure, or even prevent it?
Despite the fact that the prevalence of Alzheimer’s disease is growing, with 6 million cases in the United States alone, expected to rise to 13 million by 2050, it is still unclear to scientists how the disease manifests to cause the symptoms that it does.
Current thinking is based on the idea that certain forms of a protein called beta-amyloid clump together in between neurons in the brain in a way that impairs memory and causes the symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease.
This model was first confirmed in 2006 with a paper published in
This has remained the prevailing model of how Alzheimer’s disease develops, despite a limited understanding of the underlying causes, both genetic and environmental.
Then, an investigation published in Science in July 2022 alleged that some images had been manipulated in the paper published in 2006.
The original paper is now currently the focus of an investigation by the editorial team at Nature, which promises an editorial response to the allegations in due course. To date, the paper has been
No matter what the outcome of the investigation, there is no doubt the paper was a highly influential one in Alzheimer’s science and has impacted future research into treatments.
This was not the only controversy to hit Alzheimer’s science last year, however. Dr. Matthew Schrag, a neuroscientist and physician at Vanderbilt University,…
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