A Biophysical ‘Smoking Gun’

Scientists studying Alzheimer’s disease begin to unravel how the protein tau transitions from soluble liquid to solid fibrous tangle

While much about Alzheimer’s disease remains a mystery, scientists do know that part of the disease’s progression involves a normal protein called tau, aggregating to form ropelike inclusions within brain cells that eventually strangle the neurons. Yet how this protein transitions from its soluble liquid state to solid fibers has remained unknown — until now.

When the standing-room-only crowd at UC Santa Barbara’s 5th annual Grad Slam quieted, Leah Foltz began her three-minute presentation about personalized medicine.

But hers wasn’t the usual academic, sometimes dry, explanation.

Foltz, a UCSB graduate student in biomolecular science and engineering, delivered an engaging summary of recent strides in stem cell research and how her lab uses this biological material to study blinding diseases. Her research explores whether scientists will one day be able to use someone’s own cells to cure their blindness.