Breakthrough in Alzheimer's Research
Research into Alzheimer鈥檚 disease, one of the leading causes of disability and death in Australians aged 65 years or older, has achieved an important breakthrough thanks to 成人大片 researchers 鈥 and long-term donors, the Carthew Foundation.聽
Lead by Associate Professor Michael Lardelli, in 2014 the University鈥檚 Alzheimer鈥檚 Disease Genetics Laboratory began an innovative program to introduce Alzheimer鈥檚 disease-causing mutations into zebrafish. The researchers then analyse their brains in deep molecular detail to determine the early changes that subsequently lead to the disease in humans.
鈥淭he prospect of Alzheimer鈥檚 disease strikes fear in the elderly and has a huge economic impact, but there is still a great deal of disagreement within the scientific community about the biological mechanism of the disease,鈥 Professor Lardelli.
鈥淭hrough the work we have done, we have found that the one consistent disturbance shared by all our various Alzheimer鈥檚 disease mutant fish is a change in how their brains produce energy (in their mitochondria, the 鈥減owerplants鈥 of cells). This ties in with our theory that the Alzheimer鈥檚 disease mutations all disturb the brain鈥檚 ability to absorb and use iron that is critical for energy production by mitochondria.
Lindsay Carthew, alumni (BE 1978, MBA 1990), and Trustee of the Carthew Foundation, is excited by the different approach taken by Professor Lardelli and his team which is achieving excellent results; and after years of work, is publishing ground breaking papers.聽
鈥淭he pharmaceutical perspective on Alzheimer鈥檚 is a multi-billion-dollar model but it doesn鈥檛 explain what鈥檚 going on 鈥 their proposed cures are a bit of hit and miss. This research, which is coming from brilliant young scientists in South Australia, is now giving us a much better idea about what the problem is,鈥 Lindsay Carthew said.
If stories like this聽inspire you, as they inspire us, we invite you to make a gift today.聽