# s-brain: a recipe for painlessness

<< 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, UCL researchers (..) have now discovered the recipe for painlessness. >>

<< (..) mice and people who lack Nav1.7  [sodium channel Nav1.7]  produce higher than normal levels of natural opioid peptides. >>

<< (..)  we now have confirmation that Nav1.7 really is a key element in human pain >>

<< (..)  we have now filed a patent for combining low dose opioids with Nav1.7 blockers. This should replicate the painlessness experienced by people with rare mutations >>

http://www.ucl.ac.uk/news/news-articles/1215/041215-transgenic-mice-painless-life

Michael S. Minett, Vanessa Pereira, et al. Endogenous opioids contribute to insensitivity to pain in humans and mice lacking sodium channel Nav1.7
Nature Communications 6, Article number: 8967 doi:10.1038/ncomms9967 Published 04 December 2015

http://www.nature.com/ncomms/2015/151204/ncomms9967/full/ncomms9967.html