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How a man and his dogs discovered the cause of narcolepsy

How a man and his dogs discovered the cause of narcolepsy

Science Weekly vor 3 Jahren

Madeleine Finlay speaks to one of the winners of this year’s Breakthrough prize, Prof Emmanuel Mignot, about how he uncovered the cause of narcolepsy, why it is similar to diabetes, and how his work may finally result in a treatment for the condition

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The Breakthrough prizes are described by their Silicon Valley
founders as ‘the Oscars of science’, and while they are not as
glamorous, they do come with a $3m award. This year, one of the
prizes was dished out to Prof Emmanuel Mignot at Stanford
University and Masashi Yanagisawa at the University of Tsukuba for
their work uncovering the cause of narcolepsy. Their discovery has
opened the door to the development of treatments for this chronic
and often debilitating condition. Madeleine Finlay speaks to Mignot
about how he pinpointed the cause of narcolepsy, why it is similar
to diabetes and what sleep mysteries he wants to solve next. Help
support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/sciencepod