The APOE ε4 allele is a genetic variant with a strong association for increased risk of developing late-onset Alzheimer’s disease. Having one or two copies of the allele elevates the likelihood of developing the disease and experiencing an earlier onset. While it has been a clear genetic marker for risk, APOE ε4 holds no clinical value as a drug target as it has no direct causal role in the disease.

Even the much-researched suspects, amyloid and tau protein plaque build up in the brain, seem to escape full causative blame for the disease, suggesting other factors must be at work.

In one of the GNPC studies, “The Global Neurodegeneration Proteomics Consortium: biomarker and drug target discovery for common neurodegenerative diseases and aging,” published in Nature Medicine, researchers may have found the biomarkers that have eluded neurodegenerative researchers for decades.