They think they have a way to dull chronic pain – in mice at least. They identified that something similar to chronic pain – a poorly understood condition in humans – potentially affects insects too. “500 million years ago, chronic pain started out as a good thing; it allows you to escape future attacks. “We take stem cells and turn them into brakes, put them back in the spinal cord and it cures chronic pain.” One injection removes chronic pain for at least six months. When it comes to chronic pain – itself an already poorly understood, broad, umbrella term – those distinctly human elements are even more important.

Source: The Guardian July 20, 2019 21:00 UTC