Camels to Help Fight Alzheimer's? Institut Pasteur and Weill Cornell Medical College Study

Scientists have discovered an entirely new class of antibody in camels that is able to cross the blood-brain barrier and diffuse into brain tissue, a find that can improve drug delivery to the brain in Alzheimer's disease. These antibodies, which are naturally available in the camelid family (camels, dromedaries, llamas, and alpacas) may be part of a "game changer" in the outcomes for people with brain diseases, researchers from the US and France believe. "This basic biological investigation opens new pathways toward innovative therapeutic solutions for intractable diseases such as Alzheimer's disease or brain tumours," said Pierre Lafaye, a researcher involved in the work from the Institut Pasteur, PF: Production de Proteines Recombinantes et d'Anticorps -Proteopole in Paris, France.