Newsflash! Private detective AI is on the Alzheimer’s case!
This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science.
Alzheimer’s, the memory stealing disease, doesn’t leave clues behind. There are no gene mutations or viruses linked to it. So, what’s the cause?
Enter Junchen Chen from UC San Diego. He studied PHGDH, an enzyme that powers brain cells and helps them communicate.
But in Alzheimer’s, its levels skyrocket. Suspicious? AI revealed that it moonlights as a saboteur, blocking waste-clearing pathways in the brain.
When researchers shut it down in mice, memory improved. And anxiety dropped by fifty percent! Stopping this hidden trickster early might keep brains healthy longer.
Thanks to our PI… which is AI … we could bust Alzheimer’s before it strikes.
Reference: Chen, J., Hadi, F., Wen, X., Zhao, W., Xu, M., Xue, S., & Zhong, S. (2025). Transcriptional regulation by PHGDH drives amyloid pathology in Alzheimer’s disease. Cell.