This week's Science published research has opened a pathway for development of drug which if taken would not let feel acid's pain. They have recognized a protein called Nav1.7, which blocks the acid flow to the brain and not letting neuron to react to acid.

Lead author Professor Gary Lewin from the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in Berlin, Germany found this condition in naked mole rats. These rats do not feel pain from acid and this led him do a study on them.

Naked mole rats have no fur and live inside burrows and never come on surface. They are blind and that is the reason they like to live in proximity. About 300 animals live together and have just one reproducing mouse, which is known as `queen'.

Living in such congested placed makes them used to ingest so much of carbon dioxide and ultimately they show no reaction to acid. Lewin said, "The level of carbon dioxide in their burrows is very high because of the cramped conditions and so many animals [breathing out] CO2. Carbon dioxide makes tissues acidic. It seems evolution has shut down their ability to sense acid as painful".

Then he thought their receptors which makes feel pain are dead, but that was also not the case. There are nerves, known as C fibres which makes feel the pain by giving aching and burning sensation. But when he tested naked mole rat's receptor, it was working perfectly fine.

He got an idea that there is some other part which is stopping the pain sensation to reach brain. After lots of hits and trials, they came across a protein known as Nav1.7. It was the one which stopped the passage to brain.

Same receptors are also found in humans and that is the reason some humans do not feel acid pain. In coming time this protein would become one of the hottest drug targets.