Topic of the week: medicine 4.0
When HIV enters the human body, it infects lymphocytes and produces the Nef protein in them, which prevents diseased cells from "showing" that they are infected with a virus. Therefore, HIV is so effectively masked, and it is difficult for the body to fight it. Biologists from the University of Michigan analyzed 220,000 substances and found that the antibiotic concanamycin A suppresses the activity of the Nef proteins and helps lymphocytes to detect and destroy the virus. This medicine is safe for humans and in the future it will probably be used in the complex therapy of HIV.
Italian scientists used statistical methods to analyze data from 12 experiments, during which researchers evaluated how Mozart's music affects the frequency of epileptic seizures. It turned out that two works of the composer have the best effect on the condition of the sick: the piano sonata No. 16 in C major, K. 545 and the sonata for two pianos in D major, K. 448. In patients who listened to these songs on a daily basis, the frequency of seizures was reduced by 31-66%.
Using CRISPR genome editing technology, scientists usually modify DNA, but researchers at the University of California, San Diego have applied this technique to RNA, a macromolecule responsible for protein synthesis in the body. If RNA incorrectly decodes or transmits erroneous information to ribosomes that synthesize protein, then the person will become seriously ill. American scientists conducted an experiment on mice with muscular dystrophy, one of the diseases that cause disorders in the composition of proteins. In rodents with edited RNA, symptoms of the disease became less pronounced or disappeared completely.
Another important study was carried out by scientists at the University of Arizona in the United States, who are studying the effect of green light on migraines. This type of headache affects one in seven adults, and traditional drugs do not always help. In the experiment, 29 participants used white light bulbs for 10 weeks for one to two hours a day, and then another ten weeks with green light. White LEDs had no effect on the condition of people, and green ones significantly reduced the frequency of seizures. Thus, patients with episodic migraine became 30% less likely to experience headaches, and participants with chronic migraine - by 42%.