Scientists Thought Parkinson’s Was in Our Genes. It Might Be in the Water

For decades, Parkinson’s disease research has overwhelmingly focused on genetics — more than half of all research dollars in the past two decades flowed toward genomic studies — but a growing body of evidence now points to something far more mundane as a primary culprit: contaminated drinking water.

A landmark study by epidemiologist Sam Goldman compared Marines stationed at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina, where trichloroethylene (TCE) had contaminated the water supply for…