News

After exposure to the herbicide paraquat, genes that may lead to Parkinson’s disease were identified using an innovative gene-editing technique. The study, “A CRISPR screen identifies a pathway required for paraquat-induced cell death,” was published in Nature Chemical Biology. Exposure to the herbicide paraquat…

Voyager Therapeutics’ new clinical data on VY-AADC01 as a maintenance therapy for advanced Parkinson’s disease shows   improvement in patients’ motor function after just one dose, and with meaningfully lower doses of oral levodopa. The company presented ongoing Phase 1b trial (NCT01973543) results at the Oct. 17-20 Congress of the European Society…

Two new tests that diagnose smell dysfunction are an effective method to detect Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases across different patient populations, a study shows. The study, “SMELL-S and SMELL-R: Olfactory tests not influenced by odor-specific insensitivity or prior olfactory experience,” was published in the journal…

Researchers at Stanford University are hoping that brain-machine interfaces, or neural prosthetics, could become a clinical reality to help cure Parkinson’s disease. The scientific interest in connecting the brain with machines and devices isn’t new. It began in the 1970s with Jacques Vidal’s Brain Computer Interface project. The project…

Following the recent merger of the National Parkinson Foundation and the Parkinson’s Disease Foundation, the newly created Parkinson’s Foundation has launched a new brand and website as part of its mission to help those living with Parkinson’s disease (PD). The new website is www.parkinson.org. John Kozyak, chair of the…

Researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have found a new way to look for genes that protect against Parkinson’s disease. They did so by developing a modified version of the CRISPR genome-editing system. Their work was published in the journal Molecular Cell with the title, “…

Two Purdue University professors are using the global phenomenon known as the Nintendo Wii gaming system to help Parkinson’s disease patients improve their movement, speech, and quality of life. The professors in the College of Health and Human Sciences, Jessica Huber and Jeff Haddad, are particularly interested in studying how…

Two Parkinson’s disease specialists have been named the co-leaders of a New York University movement disorders institute. Drs. Andrew Feigin and Steven J. Frucht are co-executive directors of the Marlene and Paolo Fresco Institute for Parkinson’s and Movement Disorders at the university’s Langone Health Center. “Having two movement disorders…

Rock Steady Boxing is a nonprofit organization that seeks to improve the quality of life of Parkinson’s disease (PD) patients by providing a venue for exercise through noncontact boxing, a concept designed to boost coordination, motor skills, balance, and speech. Researchers have found that Parkinson’s patients who exercise…

Genetic and molecular markers of quicker motor decline in Parkinson’s disease (PD) patients were identified in a computer modeling study of disease progression. Among already described demographic factors, like older age or male sex, the researchers specifically identified a novel and Parkinson’s-specific genetic interaction between the LINGO2 gene and a…