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Newswise — TROY, N.Y. — In an article published recently in Microgravity, a Nature Journal, researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute demonstrate a unique method for studying the mechanisms behind the formation of amyloid fibrils associated with diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.
The concept, developed by Amir Hirsa, a professor of mechanical, aerospace, and nuclear engineering at Rensselaer, is known as the “ring-sheared drop” (RSD). It takes advantage of the microgravity environment provided by orbiting in space to study the effect of shear stress on a drop of protein fluid without interference from the walls of a petri dish that would traditionally be used to hold the drop on Earth.
Using this method, a…
