From meal timing to muscle health, gut microbes to DNA repair, August’s HD research highlighted fresh insights and hopeful strategies. New biomarkers, protein maps, and lifestyle clues point toward earlier detection and hope for smarter treatments.

Two studies show how a small change in FAN1, a DNA repair protein, can speed up HD. The alteration disrupts FAN1’s DNA grip, driving repeat expansions and earlier symptoms.

Scientists have imaged the toxic clumps and fibres made by expanded huntingtin with cutting-edge microscopes, helping us to understand the exact way they can be assembled and how their structure could be altered for potential therapeutic gain.