SCOTS scientists have discovered a “switch” that protects the brain from developing Parkinson’s disease, offering hope of new treatments for the illness. The breakthrough could lead to new designer drugs for the neurological condition which affects around 12,000 people in Scotland. Health experts had previously discovered an inherited form of early-onset Parkinson’s in patients which is caused by mutations in a gene called Pink1.

Now researchers at the University of Dundee have discovered the gene switches on an enzyme called Parkin, whose main job is to keep cells healthy by removing damaged proteins. They hope the breakthrough discovery will pave the way for a potential new treatment for the disease which is currently incurable. The Scottish research was partly funded by the charity set up by Back to the Future actor Michael J Fox after he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s.