Chemspy chemistry news and views

Anti-social amino acids gang up - Previously thought to be purely the preserve of proteins and peptides, scientists have discovered that the amino acid phenylalanine can form the toxic amyloid fibrils that are a hallmark of diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. Reference: L Adler-Abramovich et al, 2012, Nat. Chem. Biol., (DOI: 10.1039/NCHEMBIO.1002)