Scientists Have Found Pain Gene And Cured It

Pain Gene And Cured It

Scientists have published a study reporting that they have discovered the gene responsible for humans feeling pain.

In their study, a woman without the ability to feel physical pain has been intentionally hurt for the first time and says that she felt sensation with it.

The researchers studied a 39-year-old woman with a genetic anomaly and used a drug called naloxone to induce pain on the volunteer. They reversed the effect of an overdosed opioid using naloxone, and further laser-burned the woman giving her the very first pain of her life. This sensation is familiar to most of us, but it was something the woman was never familiar with.

According to co-author John Wood, a professor from University College, London, the woman was clearly observed to have enjoyed the experiment even though she was feeling pained.
They hope that this new study will open possibility to create treatments that will cure those who are unable to feel pain, or also manage the pain that most people are experiencing throughout their lives.
However, the drug used could have some side effects in the long term of using it.

People who are reported to have not feeling pain are said to be suffering from a rare genetic mutation wherein they lack gene channels known as Nav1.7 responsible for communicating pain in the nerves to be signalled to the brain. It was previously thought that the sole reason for people to not experience pain is the lack of channel itself.

But in the part of their study with mice that were born lacking the channels, the creature was found to produce more natural painkillers called opioid peptides. So in their observation with people who lacks Nav1.7, their hypothesis is that the unnatural amounts of opioids being released to the body adds impact to the person’s insensitivity to feeling pain.

When they tried to inhibit opioids using naloxone, the woman and the mice felt the sensation successfully.

Being insensitive to pain seems like a superhuman ability in books and children’s stories, but in real life babies born with the rare condition were found to inexplicably chew their lips and bite their fingers. Some are even more at risk of harm like fall or similar accidents because they lack the sensation.

The study was published in the journal Nature Communications.