Researchers at the University of Eastern Finland have developed and characterized a new cell model for Alzheimer’s disease that has wide utility for research and could prove useful in early diagnosis and testing of new therapies. In collaboration with clinicians at Kuopio University Hospital, the researchers collected nasal biopsies from cognitively healthy individuals and patients diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease over several years. Following tissue processing, the researchers applied a powerful single cell RNA sequencing approach to characterize the patient-derived cells of the olfactory mucosa, located in the upper parts of the nasal cavity. The olfactory mucosal tissue is critical for the sense of smell via its olfactory receptor neurons projecting to the brain.