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Yeast are single-celled organisms: They don't have brains, or even neurons, yet they have revealed a potential approach to neurodegenerative diseases (NEJM JW Gen Med Jul 7 2006).
The protein α-synuclein (α-syn) has been implicated in promoting Parkinson disease (PD). A multi-institutional team now has shown that N-aryl benzimidazole (NAB) protects against α-syn–induced toxicity both in yeast and in worm neurons. To analyze this phenomenon in humans, the investigators removed skin cells from patients who carry a mutation that greatly increases α-syn production and leads to PD. The team created induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells from the differentiated skin cells, which were the equivalent of each person's embryonic stem cells (NEJM JW Gen …