Foldable synthetic molecules could infiltrate and bust apart the toxic protein clumps causing Parkinson’s

Toxic clumps of abnormal proteins damage neurons and cause dementia. Juan Gaertner/Science Photo Library via Getty Images Current therapies for Parkinson’s disease and related conditions primarily treat symptoms but don’t stop the underlying process causing the disease. Increasing evidence suggests that toxic clumps of proteins called alpha-synuclein are among the primary drivers of damage to neurons. My team and I developed a synthetic molecule that can block these proteins from clumping and…