Department of Microbiology & Immunology University of Illinois Chicago
Perhaps most of us (who live into our late 80s) will show symptoms of Alzheimer's disease. There is evidence of a familial propensity, so it is important to understand the genetic control and, through that, eventually the disease's biochemical basis. Lod ("log of the odds") scores range from significant to not significant (or back!). The results from 48 family lineages gathered by this group of 35 listed authors (plus an additional 31 footnoted "study group" members) from 18 laboratories in nine countries suggest that early-onset Alzheimer's is governed by a locus on the long arm of chromosome 21. Late-onset Alzheimer's, however, lacks a clear genetic basis.
P.H. St. George-Hyslop, J.L. Haines, L.A. Farrer, P. Polinsky, et al., "Genetic linkage studies suggest that Alzheimer's disease is not a single homogeneous disorder," Nature, 347, 194-7, 13 September 1990. (Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston; Boston ...
