Alzheimer’s gene poses both risk and benefits

Scientists studying the molecular roots of Alzheimer’s disease have encountered a good news/bad news scenario. The bad news is that in the early stages of the disease, high-risk TREM2 variants can hobble the immune system’s ability to protect the brain from amyloid beta. The good news, according to researchers, is that later in the disease, the absence of TREM2 protein seems to protect the brain from damage.