Scientist from Melbourne, Australia’s Howard Florey Institute will use the newly developed synchrotron to explore a protein that is believed to be involved with memory loss. The synchrotron is able to see objects normally too small to be seen with similar equipment. This unique feat is produced with a high intensity light beam that reveals objects that would normally require a microscope to observe.

The protein they are chasing is called insulin-regulated aminopeptidase (IRAP). With the synchrotron they are able observe IRAP’s processes and how it binds with medication that has already proven to be effective in the treatment of dementia and other memory loss forms, like amnesia.

It is hoped that the research project will lead to new and more effective treatments of amnesia.