Alzheimer's Disease is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder of late life with devastating consequences for the afflicted and their carers and poses one of the major challenges to medical research. Until recently, little hope of effective therapies capable of slowing the disease process or preventing its occurrence was apparent. With recent advances in the genetics and molecular biology of the disease processes and the demonstration of the involvement of multiple aetiological factors, however, real chances are now appearing for the identification of preventive drugs. In this discussion, experts from disciplines ranging from molecular genetics to the clinic provide review and novel data concerning the aetiology of AD and the establishment of drugfinding screening methods.

Some of the current concepts used in transgenic research, an increasingly important tool to study the regulation and function of genes, are illustrated in this book. With these techniques, animal models can be used to study human diseases; this opens up new possibilities in both applied and basic research. Specifically, the ability to introduce genes into the germline of mice and the successful expression of the inserted gene within an organism provide new insights and opportunities for biomedical research. The discussion here shows how a detailed analysis of the underlying molecular mechanisms will provide new insights into the genetic origin of certain diseases and will lead to a better understanding of normal and abnormal physiological processes.