Body & Brain: Science news of the year, 2008

Science News writers and editors looked back at the past year's stories and selected a handful as the year's most interesting and important in Body & Brain. Follow hotlinks to the full, original stories.

Insulin-producing cells in mice, rats and humans are covered with the melatonin receptor, shown in green. Insulin is shown in red. The receptor is a link that begins a connection between sleep and type 2 diabetes.
Insulin-producing cells in mice, rats and humans are covered with the melatonin receptor, shown in green. Insulin is shown in red. The receptor is a link that begins a connection between sleep and type 2 diabetes.

The sleep, diabetes link
Pancreatic cells have melatonin receptor

Scientists find a surprisingly clear connection between sleep and a healthy body: the regulation of sugar levels in the blood.

Three large genomic studies, all online December 7 in Nature Genetics, describe the first genetic link between sleep and type 2 diabetes, a disease marked by high blood sugar levels (SN: 1/3/09, p. 5). The research places bodily rhythms, including the clock that sets human sleep cycles, squarely in the blood sugar business.

Melatonin is a major regulator of the body’s sleep clock, best known for its sleep-inducing properties. People with a single-letter change in the gene encoding a molecule that senses melatonin are more likely to develop diabetes, the studies show. One of the studies also showed that the sensing molecule, known to be expressed in the brain, also sits on the outside of insulin-producing pancreatic cells.

The results identify the melatonin system as a “fascinating new target” for diabetes treatments, says endocrinologist Leif Groop of Lund University in Malmö, Sweden, who coauthored two of the new reports. These data link two trends in the United States — rising diabetes rates and falling sleep levels.


Gene therapy restores limited vision in three people with an inherited form of blindness. Studies in mice indicate that other cells in the retina can take over for rod and cone cells.
Gene therapy restores limited vision in three people with an inherited form of blindness. Studies in mice indicate that other cells in the retina can take over for rod and cone cells.

Blind may see  Gene therapy restores limited vision in three people with an inherited form of blindness. Studies in mice indicate that other cells in the retina can take over for rod and cone cells (SN: 5/24/08, p. 8).

Early signal  Before symptoms appear, inflammation-promoting genes become active in immune cells in the brains of people at risk of developing bipolar disorder (SN: 4/12/08, p. 228).

Scary malaria  The parasite that causes malaria is showing signs of thwarting top-line drugs called artemisinins (SN: 11/22/08, p. 9). But new reports show evidence that a vaccine still in the testing stage halves a child’s risk of getting malaria (SN: 1/3/09, p. 15).

Four months after his December 2006 hand transplant, David Savage’s partial sense of touch in the new right hand activated the same brain area that would have controlled his original right hand 35 years earlier. The photo at left was taken shortly after the transplant, while the photo at right was taken one year after the procedure.
Four months after his December 2006 hand transplant, David Savage’s partial sense of touch in the new right hand activated the same brain area that would have controlled his original right hand 35 years earlier. The photo at left was taken shortly after the transplant, while the photo at right was taken one year after the procedure.

Same brain map  Months after receiving a right-hand transplant, a man displays a partial sense of touch in the new hand, activating the same brain areas that would have controlled his original hand (SN: 11/8/08, p. 18).

A-beta on the brain  Comatose patients make more amyloid-beta — a substance that forms characteristic plaques in the brains of Alzheimer’s patients — as the patients’ brains heal from injury (SN Online: 8/28/08).

Dopamine and zzzz’s  The brain chemical dopamine builds up in some parts of the brain when sleep is lost (SN: 9/13/08, p. 11). Dopamine also aids in learning and memory, but too much of the chemical can hinder performance (SN: 8/30/08, p. 8).

Newborn neurons (green, above) help mice build memories. Other research shows that antidepressants may help trigger neuron generation in the hippocampus.
Newborn neurons (green, above) help mice build memories. Other research shows that antidepressants may help trigger neuron generation in the hippocampus.

New neuron insights  Newborn neurons (green, above) help mice build memories. Other research shows that antidepressants may help trigger neuron generation in the hippocampus (SN: 9/27/08, p. 5).

Glass a day  Cell tests suggest that resveratrol, the substance that seems to account for the healthful effects of red wine, may have antiobesity effects (SN Online: 6/16/08). Other research muddies the idea that resveratrol can mimic the life-extending effects of a calorie-restricted diet, suggesting that the compound improves health but doesn’t necessarily lengthen life in humans. And it also may indirectly harm the brain (SN: 8/2/08, p. 14).

Statin ups and downs  Older people taking cholesterol-lowering statin drugs seem less likely to develop dementia (SN Online: 7/28/08). A variant form of the gene SLCO1B1 may be responsible for muscle pain that statins sometimes cause (SN: 8/16/08, p. 9).

Astrocytes (purple) and neurons (green) in the visual cortex of a ferret. The cells contain dyes that allow researchers to track calcium levels. When neurons are active, astrocytes respond with increased calcium, which leads nearby capillaries to increase blood flow. This is a previously undiscovered role for astrocytes, once thought to only act as support cells for neurons.
Astrocytes (purple) and neurons (green) in the visual cortex of a ferret. The cells contain dyes that allow researchers to track calcium levels. When neurons are active, astrocytes respond with increased calcium, which leads nearby capillaries to increase blood flow. This is a previously undiscovered role for astrocytes, once thought to only act as support cells for neurons.

Rising stars  Astrocytes, usually thought of as support cells, regulate blood flow in the brain and may aid neuron signaling (SN: 8/2/08, p. 5).

Foul play  A natural genetic variation in a protein that processes testosterone could help some athletes beat drug tests and finger others for cheating even when they play it clean (SN: 3/29/08, p. 195).

Not benign  Dutch researchers advise physicians to avoid prescribing probiotics to patients with pancreatitis after a study finds the treatment triples the death rate in treated patients (SN: 2/23/08, p. 115).

A new drug can, with other therapies, suppress the most drug-resistant strains of the virus.
A new drug can, with other therapies, suppress the most drug-resistant strains of the virus.

HIV updates  Early HIV treatment can increase a patient’s survival chances (SN Online: 10/27/08).  A new drug can, with other therapies, suppress the most drug-resistant strains of the virus (SN Online: 7/23/08). And clinics in Africa experience long lines for discounted or free male circumcision as word spreads that the operation provides partial protection against HIV (SN: 1/3/09, p. 14).

Out of sync  Teenage female athletes’ temporary loss of menstrual periods coincides with a hormone imbalance. The find may help identify those people who are prone to developing the condition (SN: 7/19/08, p. 9).