My story: the discovery and mapping to chromosome 21 of the Alzheimer amyloid gene

J Alzheimers Dis. 2006;9(3 Suppl):349-60. doi: 10.3233/jad-2006-9s339.

Abstract

When I decided to clone the amyloid gene I did not know that there were some twenty groups around the research world that desperately tried to do the same. If I knew that I would have never started the project. I was so ignorant about the disease that I did not know how to spell the name Alzheimer. I had to look at the papers of other researchers to make sure that I my spelling was correct. After the cloning, I was invited to numerous national and international meetings on AD. These meetings became my University where I majored in AD.

MeSH terms

  • Alzheimer Disease / genetics*
  • Alzheimer Disease / metabolism
  • Alzheimer Disease / pathology
  • Amyloid / genetics*
  • Amyloid beta-Peptides / genetics
  • Amyloid beta-Protein Precursor / metabolism
  • Brain / pathology
  • Chromosome Mapping / methods*
  • Chromosomes, Human, Pair 21 / genetics*
  • Cloning, Molecular / methods
  • Humans
  • Interleukin-1 / metabolism
  • Neurofibrillary Tangles / metabolism

Substances

  • Amyloid
  • Amyloid beta-Peptides
  • Amyloid beta-Protein Precursor
  • Interleukin-1