The Research

Singing in groups could make you happier – according to new research from the University of East Anglia (UEA). Researchers examined the benefits of singing among people with mental health conditions including anxiety and depression. They found that people who took part in a community singing group maintained or improved their mental health. And that the combination of singing and socialising was an essential part of recovery because it promoted an ongoing feeling of belonging and wellbeing. Lead researcher Prof Tom Shakespeare from UEA’s Norwich Medical School and his researcher Dr Alice Whieldon worked in collaboration with the Sing Your Heart Out (SYHO) project, based in Norfolk. The grassroots initiative runs weekly singing workshops, aimed at people with mental health conditions as well as the general public. It originally began at Hellesdon psychiatric hospital in 2005, but afterwards moved into the community. Around 120 people now attend four free workshops each we...

University of California, Berkeley scientists have for the first time used CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing to disable a defective gene that causes amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig’s disease, in mice, extending their lifespan by 25 percent. The therapy delayed the onset of the muscle wasting that characterizes the disease, which results in progressive weakness and eventually proves fatal when the muscles that control breathing fail. This step toward a CRISPR cure for human ALS will be reported Dec. 20 in the journal  Science Advances. The mice were genetically engineered to express a mutated human gene that in humans causes about 20 percent of all inherited forms of the disease and about 2 percent of all cases of ALS worldwide. Though the genetic cause is not known for all cases of ALS, all are accompanied by the premature death of motor neurons in the brain stem and spinal cord. The neurons allow the brain to control muscles, so loss of this connection means loss of...