U.S. biotechnology company Genentech Inc has published a new study in the journal Nature that reveals an interesting link between the way Alzheimer’s disease kills brain cells and the way the brain forms during prenatal development.

Genentech that it has found a new link between a protein called APP and Alzheimer’s. Until now it has not been clear what the APP protein does in a healthy person. Since it was know that APP had some role in the disease, drug companies and researchers have been working on creating medications that would interfere with the APP protein.

What is important about the Genentech research is that they have studied the purpose of the APP protein in early fetal brain development. It seems that APP kills non-needed nerve fibers during early brain development as part of the normal prenatal development of the brain.

"We know that APP is a bad actor in Alzheimer's, but it has been unclear how it participates," said Marc Tessier-Lavigne, executive vice president of research drug discovery at the U.S. biotechnology company Genentech Inc.

The findings, if confirmed, can eventually lead to a revolutionary breakthrough about new treatment options for the disease that results in memory loss, confusion and the inability to care for oneself. At present, there is no cure for Alzheimer’s and the drugs available merely delay the symptoms.

Alzheimer’s affects one in 20 people with ages ranging from 65 to 74 and almost half of those over 85 are diagnosed with dementia. The most commonly symptom is memory loss, as well as difficulty to remember recently learned facts. According to the estimates of the U.S. National Institutes of Health, there are currently about 4.5 million Americans with Alzheimer's disease.