A waxy, fibrous protein that accumulates abnormally in body tissues, associated with serious diseases like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.
From Greek amylon (starch) plus -oid meaning 'resembling'. Early microscopists named it because these protein deposits stained blue-purple with iodine, just like starch does, though the structure is completely different.
Alzheimer's disease is largely caused by amyloid proteins tangling together in the brain, and scientists have spent 20 years trying to clear them—it's humbling because our brains can misfold a protein in a way that leads to forgetting everything, showing how fragile memory really is.
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