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Neuroscience

A local route to pain relief

Local anaesthetics stop pain, but block all other sensations too. In rats, one molecular delivery vehicle makes an unusual local anaesthetic specific for pain — provided a little spice is added to the mix first.

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Figure 1: A spicy solution.

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McCleskey, E. A local route to pain relief. Nature 449, 545–546 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1038/449545a

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