Must reads

• An October 27, 2013 Washington Post article reported that a new study from the International Genomic Alzheimer’s Project found that researchers have "identified 11 new genes associated with the disorder, doubling the number of known gene variants linked to it." According to the article, "The study, which appeared Sunday in Nature Genetics, provides additional evidence of the involvement of certain genes in Alzheimer’s, such as one connected to the abnormal accumulation of amyloid protein in the brain, which has been associated with the disease. It also finds new gene-related risk factors that may influence cell functions." Also covered by The Guardian. 
• An October 25, 2013 Associated Press (via ABC News) article reported that "The Food and Drug Administration on Friday approved a radioactive imaging chemical from General Electric to help screen patients for Alzheimer's disease and dementia." According to the article, "Vizamyl works by binding to the plaque and creating images that show up on positron emission tomography, or PET, scans of the brain. A negative scan means there is little plaque and the cause of dementia is probably not Alzheimer's, according to an FDA release. A positive scan means the patient has at least some plaque, but does not mean they definitely have Alzheimer's. The injection is intended as one tool to help physicians identify the cause of patient's cognitive decline."

• An October 28, 2013 The Age (Australia) article reported that scientists gathered in Melbourne for a HealthHack "hackathon" focused on various diseases. According to the article, "Last weekend, teams of scientists, developers, designers and data analysts gathered for a health data hack…From Friday evening to Sunday afternoon, the teams worked on solutions to the problems, which ranged from developing a way of wrangling and analyzing data from early detection cancer tests to producing visualisations of complex genetic data."