BENGALURU: “It is estimated that in the next decade, China will have over half of the new cases of Parkinson’s disease diagnosed,” said Nobel Laureate Prof Randy Schekman.
Optimistic about his current research on the disease, the cell biologist was confident that he will leave behind breakthroughs that will make a difference in the lives of those afflicted.
He was speaking at the presentation of Infosys Science Foundation’s Infosys Prize 2025, in Bengaluru on Saturday.
‘Environmental toxins, mutations behind 80% of Parkinson’s cases’
Nobel Laureate Prof Randy Schekman said, “It’s not simply because of a better diagnosis. It may be because of environmental toxins and gene mutations. It is likely that 80% of Parkinson’s patients arise by some sporadic process, which I am guessing is likely to turn out to be some environmental toxin.”
He said China may be particularly bad in controlling those toxins, but other countries will be also affected. “Over half of a set of cells in the brain called the Dopaminergic neurons that congregate in the midbrain section called the substantia nigra die in Parkinson’s patients,” he said.
As the disease progresses, patients lose sense of smell. It can persist for years before the disease manifests. He said his wife Nancy Walls also had lost sense of smell and she was diagnosed with the disease when she was 44 years old. “But out of this came something quite miraculous. I was asked by the Sergey Brin Family Foundation if I would help develop an international programme of basic research on Parkinson’s,” he said.
On his ongoing research for over seven years, he said, “We identified 35 teams, 163 laboratories around the world, a well-balanced team with early career investigators. The funds were distributed to 80 institutions in 14 countries around the world.”
The foundation has now committed over a billion dollars for the next five years. Schekman said, “When I walk away from this programme in five years, I will leave behind, with some confidence, breakthroughs that will make a difference in the lives of those afflicted.”
Infosys Prize 2025 was given to six awardees—Nikhil Agarwal of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Economics), Sushant Sachdeva of University of Toronto (Engineering and Computer Science), Andrew Ollett of University of Chicago (Humanities and Social Sciences), Anjana Badrinarayanan of National Centre for Biological Sciences, Bengaluru, (Life Sciences), Sabyasachi Mukherjee of Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai (Mathematical Sciences), and Karthish Manthiram of California Institute of Technology (Physical Sciences). The winners were awarded with a 50 gm gold medal and $1,00,000 each.