Circadian
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Scientists clone gene-edited monkey for circadian disorder research
Scientists in China announced this week that they've successfully made five clones of a gene-edited monkey to aid in researching a number of conditions relating to circadian rhythms. The idea is that having a group of five genetically identical monkeys will help remove variables in research, but the whole experiment raises some rather murky ethical issues as well. Researchers at the Institute of Neuroscience (ION) of Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) in Shanghai intially gene-edited a group of monkeys to make it more prone to disorders that stem from circadian rhythms. Because of this gene editing, the monkeys "exhibited a wide-range of circadian disorder phenotypes, including reduced sleep time, elevated night-time locomotive activities, dampened circadian cycling of blood hormones, increased anxiety and depression, as well as schizophrenia-like behaviors." The researchers then used fibroblasts (connective tissue cells) from one monkey in that groupto produce the five clones using the same technique that successfully produced the first primate clones in early 2018.
Re-Timer could play with your brain, fool body clock to minimize jetlag
Jetlag and disrupted sleep patterns are conditions we're all too familiar with, right along with flashing lights that claim to remedy them. A new wearable device, tagged Re-Timer, also promises to be of help by mimicking sunlight and resetting the body clock. Reportedly the result of 25 years of sleep research at Australia's Flinders University, it's worn like a pair of glasses and emits soft green light, fooling the part of the brain that regulates your circadian rhythms. When used at different times of the day for specified durations, it claims to advance or delay the clock as desired -- countering the effects of frequent air travel and improving alertness levels. The rechargeable, portable device is safer and more effective than medication, according to its chief inventor Professor Leon Lack. If nothing else, the $260 visor is a bold fashion statement, although it may not be as cool as having robots convert your dreams into art.
Zyken's NightCove provides a pricey better night's rest
While we've seen our fair share of methods to make your night's rest a bit more comfortable (or uneasy), Zyken's latest supposedly provides the perfect solution to combat "light pollution" and help you sleep exactly as nature intended. While you may be functioning on highly caffeinated beans or an overpriced can of energy-injecting liquid right now, the LED-infused NightCove emits various colors throughout the night to coincide with the time, theoretically "stimulating melatonin production" and helping folks sleep better. Of course, there's "proven research" on the firm's website suggesting that these claims are indeed factual, and we must admit the design would lend a hand in sprucing up a mundane bedroom, but for a reported €1,785 ($2,324), it's only a hair cheaper than the entirely more impressive million dollar bed.[Via ShinyShiny]
