Austrian Scientists Develop a Vaccine for Parkinson's Disease
Affiris, the company in Vienna, Austria, that developed the vaccine, says it is the first treatment to target the cause of the disease.
“When it forms clumps in cells, alpha-synuclein disrupts normal levels of dopamine by locking it inside cells that produce it. It is also toxic, killing neurons and their connections,” says Mandler Markus, head of preclinical development at the company.
Most existing treatments only ease symptoms by boosting dopamine levels.
In all, 32 people will receive the vaccine in the first trial on humans. The objective is to ensure the vaccine is safe, but researchers will also monitor for signs of improvement in symptoms.
Finnish Scientists Develop Universal Allergy Vaccine:
The antibody immunoglobulin E (IgE) works as the sneezy gatekeeper for allergies: it causes your white blood cells to release histamine, which in turn causes all of your favorite allergic responses, from a watery eyes to hay fever. Now, a team of scientists led by Professor Juhu Rouvinen have found a means of genetically modifying allergens so they won’t bind with IgE, while still allowing them to interact with immunoglobulin G. IgG is the friendly cousin of IgE; it keeps allergies out by stopping the IgE-allergen complex from forming.
(via Finnish Scientists Announce a Possible Universal Allergy Vaccine | Popular Science)
