An Oregon State University scientist and a team of undergraduate students have uncovered real-time insights into a chemical process linked with Alzheimer's disease, paving the way toward better drug designs. The researchers used a molecule measuring technique to observe in a laboratory setting how certain metals can promote the protein clumping that leads to the blocked neural pathways associated with Alzheimer's. Led by Marilyn Rampersad Mackiewicz, associate professor of chemistry in the OSU College of Science, the research team also watched molecules known as chelators disrupt or reverse the clumping. The findings are published in ACS Omega.