By — William Brangham William Brangham By — Madison Staten Madison Staten By — Solveig Rennan Sandbulte Solveig Rennan Sandbulte By — Satvi Sunkara Satvi Sunkara By — Alexa Gold Alexa Gold By — Zoie Lambert Zoie Lambert Leave your feedback Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/video/horizons/2026/10/how-a-rare-genetic-mutation-could-unlock-new-ways-to-treat-or-prevent-dementia Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Story Over 55 million people worldwide are living with the devastating reality of dementia, but researchers have now identified some individuals who share a rare genetic predisposition to developing a type of this tragic disease. Could studying these families unlock new ways to predict, treat, or even prevent Alzheimer's and dementia? Horizons moderator William Brangham explores more with Robert Kolker. By — William Brangham William Brangham William Brangham is an award-winning correspondent, producer, and substitute anchor for the PBS News Hour. He also serves as the host of Horizons from PBS News. @WmBrangham By — Madison Staten Madison Staten By — Solveig Rennan Sandbulte Solveig Rennan Sandbulte Solveig Rennan Sandbulte is a producer of national affairs for PBS News Hour and Horizons. By — Satvi Sunkara Satvi Sunkara Satvi Sunkara is a producer for PBS News. By — Alexa Gold Alexa Gold Alexa Gold is a producer for PBS News. By — Zoie Lambert Zoie Lambert Zoie Lambert is an associate producer for PBS News.