The microtubule-associated protein tau (MAPT) plays an essential role in numerous neurodegenerative diseases (Goedert et al, 1988; von Bergen et al, 2001; Lashley et al, 2015), and pathogenic species of tau form neurotoxic aggregates, which correlate with cognitive deficits and neurodegeneration in humans and animal models of tauopathy (Patterson et al, 2011; Ward et al, 2012; Wang & Mandelkow, 2016). The gene discussed is MAPT; the disease is neurodegenerative disease.