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.
By Science News
![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.](https://i0.wp.com/www.sciencenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/9333.jpg?resize=300%2C266&ssl=1)
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.