Illustration of a human brain (apagafonova via iStock by Getty Images)
An Israeli-led research team says it has created an unprecedented “molecular Google Map” of a brain’s memory center, in a first application of technology that may help in the fight against Alzheimer’s and other diseases.
The breakthrough allows researchers to zoom in on RNA (ribonucleic acid) at nanoscale resolution without having to destroy the tissue to remove the RNA for analysis, giving a view of brain tissue that was hitherto out of doctors’ reach.
The ability to sequence RNA, a building block of life that uses the information from DNA to create proteins, has transformed biology and medicine. But when trying to analyze RNA from brain tissue that had been destroyed, doctors could only get a much less detailed view like a list of cities instead of a map creating a major barrier to research into diseases that affect brain function.