Written By: Shraddha Rupavate | Published : September 19, 2014 3:08 PM IST
A study that appeared online in the journal Nature Neuroscience, revealed designer genes manufactured by researchers for treating treatment of sleep disorders like insomnia. These genes are designed such that they exert control over nerve cells in a part of the brain responsible for deep sleep.
According to the findings of the study, 50 per cent of the brain's sleep-promoting activities originate in the parafacial zone (PZ) of the brainstem, a part that regulates basic body functions like breathing, blood pressure, heart rate and body temperature. According to the researchers a particular type of neuron in the PZ region responsible for synthesis if neurotransmitter gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) is also involved in inducing deep sleep. This is the only the second 'sleep node' identified in the mammalian brain whose activity appears to be both necessary and sufficient to produce deep sleep.
For exploring the effect of these designer genes on sleep induction, the researchers introduced a virus carrying the gene into the PZ region that expressed the receptor for the designer gene receptor on GABA neurons only but did not otherwise alter brain function. They used a set of innovative tools to precisely control these neurons remotely, in essence giving them the ability to turn the neurons on and off at will.
'When we turned on the GABA neurons in the PZ, the animals quickly fell into a deep sleep without the use of sedatives or sleep aids,' Patrick Fuller, an assistant professor at Harvard School of Medicine explained.
According to co-author Caroline Bass, an assistant professor at University at Buffalo School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, this study has brought neuroscience to a transformative point in where the use of designer genes gives an unprecedented ability to control the brain.
Image source: Getty images
With inputs from IANS
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