A bright idea? : the promise and peril of a memory drug

• Main Author: Dowd, William (William Michael)
• Other Authors: Robert Kanigel.
• Format: Others
• Language: English
• Published: Massachusetts Institute of Technology 2008
• Subjects: Graduate Program in Science Writing.
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/42146

Thesis (S.M. in Science Writing)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Humanities, Graduate Program in Science Writing, 2007. === Includes bibliographical references (leaves 49-51). === In the MIT lab of neuropharmacologist Richard Wurtman, rodents that received a new Alzheimer's drug have shown a marked improvement in learning and memory. They are able to master elaborate mazes in half the time of their all-natural counterparts. Wurtman theorizes that the memory loss and dementia associated with Alzheimer's disease is caused not by amyloid plaques and tangles but by a gradual deterioration of the brain's synapses. Wurtman's drug-a cocktail of three dietary supplements including uridine, choline, and an omega-3 fatty acid called DHA-is designed to generate more synapses. The three ingredients deliver the stimulus and raw material needed to create more phosphatidylcholine, a major component of neuronal membrane. More membrane, the thinking goes, means more neuronal encounters, more synapses, and more relayed messages. Wurtman's cocktail has just entered a massive clinical trial involving 10,000 Alzheimer's patients spread across 10 European countries. The same drug that could preserve brain function in Alzheimer's patients also has potential as a memory drug for healthy people. This thesis explores the ethical questions surrounding such biotechnological enhancement. What might be the benefits and drawbacks of taking a memory booster? Could a class-like division eventually arise between those who get the drug and those who do not? Could the molecular manipulations of a smart drug-what some call "cosmetic pharmacology"--change qualities that are inextricable from who we are? === by William Dowd. === S.M.in Science Writing