Another piece of the Alzheimer’s puzzle has fallen into place, as researchers report the identification of a gene associated with the mind-robbing disease.Mutations in the gene, called UBQNL1, may raise risks for the common, late-onset form of the disease that comprises more than 90 percent of Alzheimer’s cases. The gene, located on chromosome 9, is only the second gene ever linked to late-onset disease, researchers said.Even though truly effective treatments for Alzheimer’s remain elusive, identifying genetic factors in the disease should prove crucially important in the not-so-distant future, in both the diagnosis and treatment of the illness."It’s really a two-pronged attack: First, we find all the genes involved to help identify those at risk, and then, from the other side, we learn from the genes what’s going wrong,” explained lead researcher Rudolph Tanzi, a professor of neurology at Harvard Medical School, and director of the Genetics and Aging Research Unit at Massachusetts General Hospital.The findings appear in the March 3 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.
