Though PD is characterised by the progressive loss of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra resulting in movement dysfunction, astrocytes are also affected by PD pathophysiology (Booth et al., 2017), including the ingestion of neurotoxic aggregates of alpha-synuclein (α-syn) protein (Wakabayashi et al., 2000; Rostami et al., 2017), a key component of the neuronal Lewy bodies present in PD. The gene discussed is SNCA; the disease is Parkinson disease.