Category Biology/Biotechnology

People born with a rare genetic mutation are unable to feel pain, but previous attempts to recreate this effect with drugs have had surprisingly little success. Using mice modified to carry the same mutation, researchers have now discovered the recipe for painlessness. Credit: Courtesy of David Bishop, UCL

People born with a rare genetic mutation are unable to feel pain, but previous attempts to recreate this effect with drugs have had surprisingly little success. Using mice modified to carry the same mutation, researchers have now discovered the drug recipe for painlessness.

In 2006, it was shown that sodium channel Nav1.7 is particularly important for signalling in pain pathways and people born with non-functioning Nav1.7 do not feel pain. Drugs that block Nav1...

As shown in this functional MRI image, the amygdala, a part of the brain involved in processing emotions, is more active in people who are blaming others for their negative actions. Credit: Lawrence Ngo

Judgment hinges on whether action was intentional or unintentional. We constantly read others’ intentions in what they do, especially political candidates. The Duke study is “the first to use neuroscience research tools to try to explain why people are biased toward treating negative actions as intentional but positive actions as unintentional,” said Lawrence Ngo.

Take this scenario commonly used in the field of experimental philosophy: The CEO knew the plan would harm the environment, but he did not care at all about the effect the plan would have on the environment...

Few studies have investigated the association between physical activity in early adulthood and cognitive function later in life. Watching a lot of TV and having a low physical activity level as a young adult were associated with worse cognitive function 25 years later in midlife. The study of 3,247 adults (ages 18 to 30) used a questionnaire to assess television viewing and physical activity during repeated visits over 25 years. High television viewing was defined as watching TV for more than 3 hours per day for more than 2/3 of the visits and exercise was measured as units based on time and intensity. Cognitive function was evaluated at year 25 using three tests that assessed processing speed, executive function and verbal memory.

Participants with high television viewing during 25 ...

The new intestinal bacterium is a member of a newly discovered genus Intestinimonas and is able to efficiently produce butyrate from the amino acid lysine, the most abundant amino acid. Credit: Image courtesy of Wageningen University and Research Centre

Fibers in our food are thought to be good for health since they are converted in the intestinal tract into the favorable compound butyrate, that is crucial to maintain intestinal health. In contrast, protein is believed to be less healthy since intestinal fermentation of amino acids, generates undesired compounds. This latter picture is now changing since a novel intestinal bacterium has been isolated by researchers.

The new intestinal bacterium is a member of a newly discovered genus Intestinimonas and is able to efficiently produce butyra...