Can a jellyfish improve your brain?
July 28th 2010 21:03
Signature Tune
Jellyfish protein shown to improve memory
This month, Quincy Bioscience, the Wisconsin company co-founded by Underwood, received a U.S. patent for the jellyfish protein aequorin.
Last month, they released test results that showed the protein does improve memory.
This fall, they’re trying for the gold standard: human clinical trials on people with the first stages of Alzheimer’s and dementia to see if, finally, there is something that works on a disease that destroys millions of aging minds.
“We hope it is a solution,” Underwood told the Star. “It’s a very simple approach. Our bodies can’t make enough of the protein. Brain cells are dying faster than they are growing. This is a calcium-binding protein.”
It sounds simple, but Underwood’s research started 15 years ago, inspired by a grandfather who died with Alzheimer’s disease, which saps memory and, eventually, cognitive ability.
Quincy Bioscience was created four years ago to handle the research and develop Prevagen, a supplement based on the jellyfish protein that is available at drug stores without a prescription. Ultimately, though, the goal is to develop a product that doesn’t just make people feel better, but actually combats mental decline.
The patent on jellyfish technology and the new results of the tests performed on normal adults have helped that goal. The tests reported that people who “had a memory concern” saw better scores in 60 days of taking the protein.
So, too, has a 2008 Nobel Prize for chemistry awarded to three scientists who discovered and identified the qualities of jellyfish protein, although none is connected to Quincy.
“We believe their work has unearthed a possible key,” says Underwood.
“We’ve shown how well this works on people with an average amount of memory loss,” says Underwood of the randomized, double-blind study released June 24. “Next, we will test people with mild cognitive impairment. Then we go to the next level, working our way up the severity scale.”
Along the way, researchers have to devise tests sensitive enough to detect changes in simple activities in people with serious cognitive problems.
“If we can push Alzheimer’s back by five years, we can reduce it by 50 per cent. The challenge is keeping the brain alive.”
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