The microglia are small immune cells that patrol the brain looking for damage and invaders. When they encounter damage, infections, or protein plaques, they retract their many arms and turn into a rounded blob that eats invaders and toxins, and alerts other immune cells. 

In Alzheimer’s, these protective cells go haywire, leading to excess inflammation which might help drive the disease. 

Previous research suggested an unexpected explanation for the phenomenon: A cancer-driving genetic mutation in the microglia. August Yue Huang, a researcher at Boston Children’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, wanted to know whether the microglia of people with Alzheimer’s harbored more of these mutations than in healthy aging adults. 

His recent study in the journal Cell showed that microglia harbor multiple cancer-driving mutations, shifting them into a pro-inflammatory state that may contribute to Alzheimer’s. 

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