Dogs with narcolepsy helped scientists uncover orexin's role in wakefulness.
Live Science reports that narcoleptic dogs helped two independent teams identify orexin’s key role in wakefulness in 1999.
OriginalSourceLive ScienceUnited StatesLeanCenterCredibilityPublished09:00 UTCRatings: AllSides, MBFCSourceLive ScienceUnited StatesLeanCenterCredibilityPublished09:00 UTCRatings: AllSides, MBFC
“'Every time it gets excited — boom — it collapses': How dogs with narcolepsy helped scientists understand the disorder”
Dogs with narcolepsy helped scientists uncover orexin’s role in wakefulness.
Key points
- Live Science interviews Dr. Emmanuel Mignot, Stanford narcolepsy expert and Lasker Award co-winner.
- In 1999, orexin was identified as a key factor in wakefulness by two independent teams.
- Mignot studied narcoleptic dogs, including his own Watson, to explore orexin's function.
- The Orexin discovery led to new drugs for insomnia and narcolepsy.
- Stanford's research built on prior work from Dr. Masashi Yanagisawa and clinical observations of narcolepsy.
How it got here
Live Science publishes the article.
concise reads it.
The Brief ranks it 10th.
10 10 Dogs with narcolepsy helped scientists uncover orexin's role in wakefulness.
Live Science reports that narcoleptic dogs helped two independent teams identify orexin’s key role in wakefulness in 1999.