Recent research has shown association of four new genes with Alzheimer. Researchers from Harvard Medical School in Boston found that few genes that are linked with Alzheimer's are somehow, also associated with the already known genetic risks that cause degenerative brain disorder.

Researchers studied the samples taken from more than 1,300 families. Initially, researchers studied around a half million DNA markers, covering most of the human genome, in a National Institutes of Mental Health (NIMH) sample of more than 400 families in which at least three members were Alzheimer's patients. Researchers used gene chips to investigate the functioning of human genes among the participants and the results were compared with the gene functioning of their respective (normal) family members.

Lead researcher, Rudolph Tanzi, PhD, director of the MGH-MIND Genetics and Aging Research Unit said a stretch of DNA on chromosome 14 had links with Alzheimer's, novel chromosome 14 gene influenced age of onset of the disease just like APOE. APOE4 gene is one of the several genes that are linked with Alzheimer’s; presence of this gene increases the risk of developing Alzheimer's.

He added: "This gene also is in the general vicinity of the presenilin-1 gene, which we know is an early-onset Alzheimer's disease gene. We don't know if that proximity is a coincidence, and we currently don't know what the new gene does, although there is some indication it may control the activity of other genes," Tanzi said.

Researchers believe that the recent research will give experts a better understanding of Alzheimer's disease and this will lead to new and better treatments for curing the disease.