Probe into ailments of age

SCIENTISTS hope to gain an insight into age-related ailments such as dementia by examining the behaviour of proteins thought to trigger the conditions.

Researchers from Edinburgh University hope to learn why protein molecules can sometimes clump together as people get older and interfere with the biological processes that enable the body to function healthily.

This "aggregation" is a feature of such conditions as age-related sight loss, late-onset diabetes and Alzheimer's disease.

Dr Cait MacPhee, who is leading the research, said: "We know that proteins often bunch together, causing processes in the body to break down."