A nose-on-chip platform to detect the characteristic smell linked to Parkinson’s disease (PD) is being further developed thanks to a $670,000 grant from The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research.
Scientists from Yesse Technologies Inc recently validated the presence of a distinctive smell, arising from an oily skin secretion called sebum, in patients diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. The previous identification of a specific subset of odorant receptors, the proteins in the nose that detect smells, forms the foundation for further development of a lab-based smell test to detect Parkinson’s potentially at very early stages of the disease, Yesse Technologies Inc notes in a media release.
“We are thrilled that The Michael J. Fox Foundation continues to fund our cutting-edge science in their mission to transform the way new Parkinson’s disease treatments are developed and tested.”
— Dr. Charlotte D’Hulst, CEO & Co-Founder of New York-based Yesse Technologies Inc
Collaborating on Research
Yesse Technologies will be collaborating on this research with expert Prof. Bas Bloem, a Parkinson’s neurologist at Radboudumc and founder of the Parkinson Centrum Nijmegen (ParC), the release continues.
“We are running one of the largest clinical studies reviewing the long-term effect of Parkinson’s disease in patients: the Personalized Parkinson Project. By collecting patient sebum samples and providing them to Yesse Technologies, we are facilitating the potential development of a much-needed, non-invasive biomarker for Parkinson’s disease, enabling more efficient treatments down the road.”
— Prof Bas Bloem
Source(s): Yesse Technologies Inc, PR Newswire]
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