Sheep Show Biomarkers and Hope for Huntington Disease

In the United Kingdom, researchers found certain biomarkers that became apparent in sheep before symptoms even developed for Huntington disease, a genetic neurodegenerative disorder that has no cure, affects almost 7,000 people just in the U.K., and most patients die within 10-25 years of being diagnosed with it. Why is knowing about these biomarkers helpful? Researchers hope this will allow doctors to track the disease before patients even have symptoms and so researchers can come up with ways to fix the biochemical abnormalities before symptoms develop or the disease progresses further. The fact that the biomarkers can quickly be measured from blood samples will be crucial when clinical trials begin for new therapies.