Drug repurposing for Parkinson’s Teaching old drugs new tricks

神经退行性疾病，如帕金森氏症和阿尔茨海默氏症，影响许多人，因为他们的年龄。这些疾病对受影响的个人、他们的朋友和家人以及整个社会都是毁灭性的。多年来，这种疾病使得研究和开发新药变得非常困难。也许令人惊讶的是，昆虫也可能患有神经退行性疾病，并对现有的人类治疗方法作出反应。然而，它们的寿命要短得多，这意味着治疗可以在几天内进行测试，而不是花费数月和数年。我们希望开展一项令人兴奋的新计划，试图治疗昆虫中的帕金森氏症，作为为人类寻找新药的途径。

Neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s affect many people as they age. These diseases are devastating to the individuals affected, their friends and family and to society in general. The many years involved in the disease makes it very hard to research and develop new drugs. Perhaps surprisingly, insects can also suffer from neurodegenerative diseases and respond to existing human treatments. However, their much shorter lives mean that treatments can be tested in days rather than taking months and years. We want to embark on an exciting new programme trying to treat Parkinson’s in insects as a route to finding new drugs for humans.