You urgently call for sterilization procedures that can destroy possible protein 'seeds' of Alzheimer's disease on medical instruments (Nature 531, 294–297; 2016). In fact, a proof of principle for such technology is in place and promises to allay fears of surgical transmission.

The process entails adapting an assay for the transmission risk of pathological prion proteins that are deposited on instruments after surgery. A team at the Robert Koch Institute — a governmental body that safeguards public health — used this approach to develop precautionary sterilization procedures (see M. Beekes et al. Acta Neuropathol. 128, 463–476; 2014) against protein aggregates known to be associated with Alzheimer's and Parkinson's pathologies (A. Thomzig et al. Acta Neuropathol. Commun. 2, 151; 2014).

The researchers tested different experimental or commercial instrument cleaners that are effective against prions, followed by steam sterilization. They found that in crude human-brain suspensions that were attached to steel-wire grids acting as instrument surrogates, this treatment combination removed amyloid-β, tau and α-synuclein protein aggregates, as indicated by western blotting.