gene

Science has managed to turn off the extra chromosome of Down syndrome. It has also opened the great ethical debate on gene editing

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In the complex genetic map that surrounds the known down syndromethe problem is not that there is a lack of information in our cells, but that there is an excess. The presence of a third copy of chromosome 21 It unbalances the entire cellular system that ends up generating an entire clinic that today did not have any type of cure. But thanks to clinical advances and revolutionary gene therapies, we have found a way to turn off this gene that is extra in the cells of people with Down. A natural switch. To understand this advance, we must look at how nature itself resolves its own genetic imbalances. And, for those who do not know, in human beings sex is determined by two types of chromosomes: X and Y. If you are a woman, you will have XX chromosomes, and if you are a man, you will have XY. The problem, boiling it down to its most basic, is that always one of the ‘X’ genes must be silenced so that the genetic load is compensated in humans. And this is something that is done thanks to the gene XIST which encodes an RNA molecule that covers the chromosome and alters its chromatin, silencing de facto their genes. Something that has been developed by nature itself in order to maintain the species, and then the question is obligatory: why not use this natural switch to silence the chromosomes that generate diseases as important as Down syndrome? It’s not something new. The idea of ​​using this “switch” to be able to alter the gene expression of the chromosomes that we have in excess is not new, since in 2013 the researcher Jeanne Lawrence demonstrated for the first time that this RNA could induce the silencing of the extra chromosome 21 in human cells that were in culture in a laboratory. Later, in 2020, it was applied to neural stem cells, but the historical problem has always been the same: the very low efficiency when integrating this gene into the affected cells.. A new milestone. This has changed radically, as a team at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston has published a new article in PNAS with a solution to eradicate this bottleneck thanks to the tool CRISPR/Cas9. This system can be visualized as simple scissors that specifically cut into our DNA to eliminate something that was left over or altered. The problem is that it was not very efficient at integrating new genetic material, and to overcome this, scientists have developed a modified version of CRISPR/Cas9 that boosts the success rate of the integration of the XIST gene which will silence the third chromosome 21. Good results. Here we recognize how XIST has been integrated into 20-40% of cell lines that have trisomy 21. Furthermore, the method reliably affects only the extra copy of chromosome 21 without silencing other genes that can cause other diseases. There are problems. Despite the enthusiasm, the technique is far from being applied in humans, since one of the biggest challenges of CRISPR is the mutations off-target, That is, it acts on other genetic points that are its marked objectives. And this occurs when these ‘scissors’ cut a sequence of DNA that closely resembles its target, but which in reality is not. In this way, an error off-target It could trigger severe cellular problems or even cancer. Recent studies show that experimentation on embryos with these techniques often results in mosaicism with edited and unedited cells, as well as incomplete edits. This means that right now we have to work on having greater specificity in the genetic objectives of the therapy so that the consequences of using it are not much greater than the fact of curing a disease. Ethical shock. The controversy is served with genetic therapies in general, since right now one of the lines that are open is to eliminate this extra chromosome directly in a human embryo before implementing it in a woman so that she is not born with this disease. This is where bioethicists they point because experimenting with human embryos damages their physical integrity and poses irreversible risks for future generations. Furthermore, they underline the urgency of distinguishing between the use of CRISPR for purely therapeutic purposes, such as treating symptoms, and its use for “genetic improvement” or the selection of embryos that are much more advanced or genetically perfect. This is also added to the fact that genetic editing in embryos for reproductive purposes is currently prohibited in most countries. Images | Sangharsh Lohakare In Xataka | The surprising thing is not that we have sequenced the DNA of a Neanderthal from 11,000 years ago: it is what it has revealed

Science has managed to turn off the extra chromosome of Down syndrome. It has also opened the great ethical debate on gene editing

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In the complex genetic map that surrounds the known down syndromethe problem is not that there is a lack of information in our cells, but that there is an excess. The presence of a third copy of chromosome 21 It unbalances the entire cellular system that ends up generating an entire clinic that today did not have any type of cure. But thanks to clinical advances and revolutionary gene therapies, we have found a way to turn off this gene that is extra in the cells of people with Down. A natural switch. To understand this advance, we must look at how nature itself resolves its own genetic imbalances. And, for those who do not know, in human beings sex is determined by two types of chromosomes: X and Y. If you are a woman, you will have XX chromosomes, and if you are a man, you will have XY. The problem, boiling it down to its most basic, is that always one of the ‘X’ genes must be silenced so that the genetic load is compensated in humans. And this is something that is done thanks to the gene XIST which encodes an RNA molecule that covers the chromosome and alters its chromatin, silencing de facto their genes. Something that has been developed by nature itself in order to maintain the species, and then the question is obligatory: why not use this natural switch to silence the chromosomes that generate diseases as important as Down syndrome? It’s not something new. The idea of ​​using this “switch” to be able to alter the gene expression of the chromosomes that we have in excess is not new, since in 2013 the researcher Jeanne Lawrence demonstrated for the first time that this RNA could induce the silencing of the extra chromosome 21 in human cells that were in culture in a laboratory. Later, in 2020, it was applied to neural stem cells, but the historical problem has always been the same: the very low efficiency when integrating this gene into the affected cells.. A new milestone. This has changed radically, as a team at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston has published a new article in PNAS with a solution to eradicate this bottleneck thanks to the tool CRISPR/Cas9. This system can be visualized as simple scissors that specifically cut into our DNA to eliminate something that was left over or altered. The problem is that it was not very efficient at integrating new genetic material, and to overcome this, scientists have developed a modified version of CRISPR/Cas9 that boosts the success rate of the integration of the XIST gene which will silence the third chromosome 21. Good results. Here we recognize how XIST has been integrated into 20-40% of cell lines that have trisomy 21. Furthermore, the method reliably affects only the extra copy of chromosome 21 without silencing other genes that can cause other diseases. There are problems. Despite the enthusiasm, the technique is far from being applied in humans, since one of the biggest challenges of CRISPR is the mutations off-target, That is, it acts on other genetic points that are its marked objectives. And this occurs when these ‘scissors’ cut a sequence of DNA that closely resembles its target, but which in reality is not. In this way, an error off-target It could trigger severe cellular problems or even cancer. Recent studies show that experimentation on embryos with these techniques often results in mosaicism with edited and unedited cells, as well as incomplete edits. This means that right now we have to work on having greater specificity in the genetic objectives of the therapy so that the consequences of using it are not much greater than the fact of curing a disease. Ethical shock. The controversy is served with genetic therapies in general, since right now one of the lines that are open is to eliminate this extra chromosome directly in a human embryo before implementing it in a woman so that she is not born with this disease. This is where bioethicists they point because experimenting with human embryos damages their physical integrity and poses irreversible risks for future generations. Furthermore, they underline the urgency of distinguishing between the use of CRISPR for purely therapeutic purposes, such as treating symptoms, and its use for “genetic improvement” or the selection of embryos that are much more advanced or genetically perfect. This is also added to the fact that genetic editing in embryos for reproductive purposes is currently prohibited in most countries. Images | Sangharsh Lohakare In Xataka | The surprising thing is not that we have sequenced the DNA of a Neanderthal from 11,000 years ago: it is what it has revealed

In 1995 some researchers discovered the “peaceful gene” of our body. Today their finding has earned them a Nobel

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The Nobel Committee at the Karolinska Institute of Stockholm has done it again. He has rewarded one of those investigations that, for years, seemed like a page note in textbooks, but today are the basis of revolutionary treatments. He Nobel Prize for Physiology and Medicine of 2025 He has been granted jointly to Japanese Shimon Sakaguchi and Americans Mary E. Brunkow and Fred Ramsdell for “their discoveries about Regulatory T cells And the role of Foxp3 gene In the immune function “ The beginning. Already in the previous decade, Sakaguchi had identified a subset of T lymphocytes that did not attack, but did the opposite: they suppressed the activity of other T lymphocytes. They were pacifying cells, a kind of riot police of the immune system. In 1995, He published a job Key that characterized these cells, today known as regulatory T cells (TREGS). The finding was transcendental. Sakaguchi showed that without these tregs, The immune system went crazy and began to attack the tissues of the body itself, causing devastating autoimmune diseases. He had discovered the natural mechanism of the body to maintain tolerance and avoid self -destruction. But the key piece of the puzzle was missing: what made a T cell become a peacemaker and not a soldier? Brunkow and Ramsdell. Although this discovery was transcendental, the reality is that there was a lot of skeptic that he did not believe in his theory. But the answer to the big question that stayed in the air came in 2001 (still far from the year 2025 and the delivery of this award). Here, on the one hand, Mary E. Brunkow’s team investigated a rare and deadly disease Autoimmune in children called IPEX syndrome. The investigation pointed to a gene as a cause of this disease: Foxp3. On the other hand, Fred Ramsdell’s team was studying a mouse model with very similar symptoms and reached the same conclusion: The defective gene was Foxp3. The connection. The connection was immediate and explosive: Foxp3 was the “master switch”. It is the gene that, when activated in a T lymphocyte, gives you the instructions to become a TREG. Without functional FOXP3, there are no regulatory T cells, and the immune system is uncontrolled. Sakaguchi’s discovery finally found his genetic explanation and already gave him enough weight so that the scientific community saw that he had sat a great precedent. A revolution. This double discovery, Sakaguchi’s cell phone and Brunkow and Ramsdell’s genetic, has completely changed the immunology paradigm and has opened two great therapeutic pathways with immense potential. On the one hand, the door opens up to the fight against autoimmune diseases since with the lack of tregs the body attacks itself. The solution in this case is to increase this type of cells, and there are already different clinical trials to extract patient T cells, “convert” them into the laboratory and re -inject them to the patient. Something we now know as ‘immunotherapy’. But it also serves for the fight against cancer. In these cases it has been seen how tumors are ‘intelligent’ and surround themselves with tregs to protect themselves to the immune system that tries to end these cells. These pacifying cells prevent “soldier” T lymphocytes from attacking cancer. The new immunotherapies seek precisely to temporarily deactivate these tregs or block the action of Foxp3 in the tumor environment, eliminating the protective coat of cancer so that the immune system can destroy it. This has been especially promising in tumors such as lymphoma. Time has passed. The most surprising of all this is the large amount of time between the initial discovery and recognition with a Nobel. If it is true that it has been expected to have a crucial relevance within the clinical aspect, with trials that give very good results for diseases that are really serious. Images | Wikipedia (2, 3) In Xataka | A Spanish team has taken a giant step in a hopeful cancer treatment: chemoinmunotherapy

We have detected the gene that acts as a ‘switch’ of chronic pain. It is the principle of the analgesics revolution

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Chronic pain is one of the worst convictions of modern medicine. Affects one in five peopleis the main cause of world dependence And to top it off, Current treatments They are insufficient or come with devastating side effects such as Opioid addiction as fentanyl. But now, A great investigation Posted in the prestigious magazine Nature It has opened a door that could change everything. A gene as responsible for chronic pain. An international team of scientists has identified a gene, the SLC45A4as a key actor in the perception of pain by the human. And it is not another gene on the list. They are the necessary instructions to manufacture a protein that acts as a “guardian” of the membrane of Our sensory neuronscontrolling the passage of mysterious molecules called polyamines. When manipulating this protein, researchers have reduced the intensity of certain pain without affecting other sensations such as The touch. The finding not only solves an old biological enigma, but also opens the door to a new generation of analgesics for patients with pains that are not controlled with current therapies. Following the track in the DNA of 130,000 people. Find a small gene Inside the human genome It is not something simple, taking into account the large amount of information that can be found In a sequencing. That is why researchers have resorted to brute force with the processing of a large amount of data. To do this, they analyzed the genetic information and pain questionnaires of more than 132,000 people from the UK Biobankone of the world’s greatest repositories of medical and genetic information. Looking for patterns in all data. Using a Complete genome association study (GWAS), which is like crossing thousands of data to find patterns, researchers discovered that certain variants of the SLC45A4 gene were significantly associated with the intensity of chronic pain that people reported. Something that could also explain the different pain thresholds that each person has. To ensure that it was not a coincidence, they replied the finding in two other gigantic databases such as the Million Veteran Program from the United States and Finngen of Finland. The result in both was similar, so the evidence began to clarify. But once you have the name of the gene, the question is: what exactly does this gene do to modulate pain? The guardian of the polyamines: solving a neuronal enigma. This is where history becomes very interesting. It was known that the SLC45A4 manufactured a conveyor protein, a kind of rotating door on the surface of the cells. But nobody knew what he transported. The investigation revealed that its load is the Polyaminessmall molecules that, despite being crucial for almost everything in the cell (From the reading of the DNA to growth), they had a role that was not known in pain. What was known is that during a pain situation polyamines increased, but the mechanism of action was a mystery. The reason for the mystery is that the effect was different depending on whether they were outside or inside the neuron, but the ‘door’ was not known through which they could enter or leave. Until now. The SLC45A4 protein is that door. Using advanced verification techniques. Before announcing a discovery like this, it is important to be verified with different techniques. In this case the Electronic Creomicroscopy To obtain a 3D map at the atomic level of the protein. In this way, they saw their structure with an amazing detail. But seeing it is not just to have a very beautiful photograph hanging in the office, but it could be understood how it was able to recognize polyamines and even a Modulable domain That the protein itself uses to inhibit itself, as an integrated key in its own lock. And this is something that opens many doors to future research related to chronic pain. Mice with the lowest pain threshold. The fire test came with the experiments in animals. The team created genetically modified mice so that they did not have the SLC45A4 gene. These mice were, in appearance, completely normal. However, when they were subjected to pain proof, the results were amazing. Specifically, mice were subjected to different tests, such as being on a hot plate or receiving a formalin injection, which is a chemical that Causes pain at high doses. Here it is as they showed a much greater resistance to chronic pain. But when they were given a quick puncture (acute pain) the answer was identical to that of normal mice. A pain regulator. And this difference is crucial in the investigation. It means that SLC45A4 is not a switch that when we go out ‘we stop feeling any type of pain, but is a fine regulator for persistent and deaf pain, precisely the type that characterizes chronic pain. Because living completely without pain is not a good idea. The pain in the end is an organism alert system that something is not doing well, for example, that we have appendicitis. If we ‘turn off’ acute pain are many emergency situations that we would literally stop attending until it was too late. And reason is known. The absence of the protein made a specific type of pain receptors, the so -called Polymodal nociceptors C or fibers C (Those that detect chemical or thermal pain), were much less excitable. That is, it was necessary to expose the receiver to a much stronger stimulus so that the neurons ‘trigger’ an action potential that reached the brain and gave the feeling of pain. Literally, the threshold potential was much lower and, therefore, resisted from great magnitude pain. A new hope for millions of people. This discovery is more than a simple scientific curiosity. By identifying this protein as the polyamine transporter in neurons related to nociception, a completely new window for drug design opens. And it is that current analgesics act on receptors or block (such as the case of ibuprofen with COX-2). Now, the drugs designed to modulate the activity of … Read more

A simple gene can send a divine punishment to the snails: turn them into “left -handed”

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It is estimated that Something more than 10% of the world population is left. Today, this does not usually involve greater inconveniences, but there are animals that have a more problematic asymmetry: snails. Left -handed snails. Most snails share the direction in which their snail draws its spiral characteristic that revolves in the direction of the clock needles. But there is a very small population of snails whose shells develop in reverse. The reason It seems to be In a small genetic variation. The snails that develop their shell symmetrically to the rest are usually called them as “left -handed snails”, but if we had to look for a more precise human analogue we tended to go to the condition to which which We call SITUS INVERSUS. People with this condition, also of genetic origin, develop one or more organs on the “incorrect” side, for example they can have the heart to the right and the liver to the left. This condition occurs in around one person in 10,000 and rarely generates disorders, but in the case of these mollusks, the investment of their snail can cause problems, for example, making it difficult to reproduce these animals. A vital gene. Understanding the genetics responsible for change in these animals is important since it can give us clues about the evolution that was modeling the different genera and gastropod species. According to Explain the team Responsible for discovering the main gene involved in this differentiation, throughout the evolution, these changes resulted in the appearance of new species, something striking when it comes to mutations that hinder reproduction. Laboratory snails. The team conducted its study with a variant of snails of the species Bradybaena Similaris. The variant has the characteristic of presenting a high prevalence of “left -handed” snails, almost half of the specimens are born with this characteristic. The team compared the genes of the mice born with shells that turned to either side. They discovered that the main difference was in a gene, Diaph, but not in the gene itself but in its expression. The details of the study were published In an article In the magazine Zoological Letters. Jeremy’s curious case. Perhaps the most famous snail to present this anomaly was a British snail nicknamed Jeremy in honor of politician Jeremy Corbyn, the leftist politician who was twice a candidate for prime minister in the United Kingdom. Jeremy was the protagonist of another investigation whose results postulated an alternative hypothesis to genetics based. The team responsible for the study concluded, after gathering numerous specimens such as Jeremy so that they could reproduce between them, that the change obeyed external forcesnot by genetic inheritance but for accidents in development. The study, Posted in 2020 In the magazine Biology Lettersreminds us that we will still have to investigate these mollusks, their genetics and their development, if we want to know exactly what phenomenon is behind this unique characteristic of a small amount of snails and, above all, of its implications. In Xataka | They identify the smallest land snail species: Round 0.5 mm high and its discoverers needed brushes and microscope Image | Angus Davison

The Z gene has disregarded the vice that is celebrating daytime raves with coffee and “Sound Healing”

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There are gestures that define us as a species, and dance is one of them. When everything fails, the body continues to speak: it is stirred, it shakes, it is released. Barbara Ehrenreich documented it in ‘Dancing in the Streets‘, where it shows how dance has historically served as collective response to pain. Today, that instinct seems to wake up again, in a world worn by stress, uncertainty and isolation. Decoding the rave. In warehouses, parks, coffees and even luxury resorts, the raves of the 21st century no longer revolve exclusively around alcohol, strobe lights and early morning. Now they can also start with a yoga session at dawn, include substance -free spaces, foster deep conversations and offer coffee instead of cocktails. In an article for Marie Claire They explain that the phenomenon It is spreading in many countries and electronic music remains the central beat. However, the purpose has changed: it is about reconnecting with the body, with others and with oneself. “We are very connected online, but possibly more disconnected in real life,” says Kesang Ball, co -founder of Trippin in the middle, a global platform of young culture. “People yearn for spaces where they can meet related people.” A cultural change. It might seem like a whim, since raves have always been a countercultural space that gave a room for response to what happened at the time. Nevertheless, how does the fashion magazine addressthe need for this new movement revolves around postpandemic emotional exhaustion, the epidemic of solitude, the collapse of mental well -being and the fed up in front of a digital life that promised connection, but left empty. In Spain, the average time that users dedicate to social networks is 1 hour and 55 minutes a day, According to a study by Trecebits. In this context, the holidays are not just parties: they are spaces where they relear to be with others without screens in between. Even deeper. This turn also reflects a generational sensitivity. Unlike the millennial stereotype of the party until dawn, generation Z Prioritize self -careauthenticity and Mental health. Excess, blackout and hangover have ceased to be gestures of rebellion; Today, the subversive is to stay lucid, connect deeply and find pleasure without guilt. In this context, the Rave does not disappear, it transforms. In fact, an investigation from the University of Leeds, EXPORDING RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN ELECTRONIC DANCE MUSIC EVENT PARTICIPATION AND WELL-BEING, He found that attending electronic music events is directly associated with greater psychological, emotional and social well -being. In the study they identified that Raves attendees experienced deep feelings of connection, individual expression, community and collective euphoria. And not a drop of alcohol. Sobriety is a trend, the youngest are changing the Cup for the espresso. The calls Coffee Raves “Morning fiests in cafeteria converted into clubs,” they are just an example of paradigm shift. From the track to inner peace. The change has been progressive, but firm. In a report on the EDM page have chatted with groups such as Daybreaker, Superbloom or The Oracle Project that are at the forefront of a new era of parties: daytime, conscious and community. In them, dance and care for themselves are not opposite actions. Lauren Branc, founder of The Oracle Projectsummarizes it like this: “I did not want to give up the fun to leave, but neither did I want to continue revolving around something that became ill and does not encourage a deep connection.” The movement also has its luxury expression. As They have detailed in Travel and Leisurein Koh Samui, the W hotel organizes musical retreats where emerging DJs such as Joplin share a poster with sessions of Sound Healing and Yoga, in a five -star environment. There, electronic music does not compete with rest, but is synchronized with it. Although it is not the only space, because in coffee shops such as Santanera Coffee in Madrid or Vera Café in Barcelona, the Coffee Parties They gather hundreds of young people who dance to the rhythm of the house and the techno with cappuccino in hand. Everything, in broad daylight. A radical act: dance in community. The new Rave culture is not a nostalgic copy of the past. It is a reinvention. Faced with a world that commercializes time, crushes joy and fragments the sense of belonging, dance together – without filters or screens – can be a deeply radical act. Rob Glassett, known as fold, summarizes it clearly for Marie Claire: “The dance clues have always been important places to disconnect … but not to get stuck, but to reconnect.” In an era saturated with stimuli and algorithms, returning to the body, to rhythm and human contact can be more revolutionary than it seems. And if, As the DJ says Surusinghe in the fashion magazine: “Music has a power comparable to that of religion,” then the dance floor is, perhaps, one of the last truly free sanctuaries. Image | Unspash Xataka | Instead of a cubata, a capuchino: the triumph of the daytime raves where the raveros consume coffee instead of alcohol

His gene generation has responded becoming “Rata People”

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Current China little or nothing has to do with the abnegated China in growth of the late 90s. Social and labor pressure that is being exercised with the youth of the Z generation that have grown since then it is generating a new social movement: more and more young, exhausted and without resourcesthey are grouped under the term “Rata People.” SCMP account that “rat people” represents the most extreme version of the Chinese movement “do nothing” (Lying Flat) that, such and as he published BBC, emerged as a form of rebellion against the strenuous working days of 72 hours per week and the 996 work culture (From nine in the morning to nine at night, six days a week). Far from embarrassing, many young people celebrate publicly Its economic dependence of parents and their rejection of the idea that hard work is the only way to success. A generation in existential crisis and rebellion. According to The published by Business InsiderChinese youth live an existential crisis fed by social and labor pressure. After decades of economic growth, young Chinese of generation Z, are facing a much more competitive labor market than their parents, while they must assume family responsibilities and deal with the high cost of housing. “I refuse to be as a dependent. I defend the name of the rat people,” he claims a user in a message collected by Business Insider. This situation is aggravated by the education received from Tiger parentsin which parents invest great sums in the education of their children in the hope of ensuring a better future, generating A fierce competition And a feeling of generalized exhaustion. The Chinese pendulum. Bringing young people to these demand limits has generated a pendulum effect in them from which movements such as “have emerged”So ping“(throw yourself on the floor) and” bai lan “(let it rot), which channel the apathy and disenchantment of a generation that feels No motivation and without perspectives Of the future clear. These trends have evolved towards more visible forms of protest, such as going to work to work or, directly, withdraw from working life to become “rat people”, which remains all day In bed without doing anythingshowing his fed up with a society that demands sacrifices without offering tangible rewards. “After three years of hard work, I finally made my parents realize that having a job was not generating wealth,” said a young woman in the Chinese Social Network Rednote. The antithesis of cryptobros. The new Chinese form of philosophical protest is the antithesis of the productivist currents of the badly called Cryptobroswhich presume disciplined routines, early risersand exercise sessions At five in the morning. Zhang Yong, a social worker from the province of Hubei, in downtown China, told SCMP that “rat people” reflected a broader tendency of “social withdrawal” among young people. “It is a passive coping mechanism after setbacks. They reduce social contact and simplify their lives to recover,” said Yong. While in the West, self -examination and constant effort are glorified, the Chinese young people claim a minimalist and unpretentious lifestyle, deliberately moving away from the success and glamor image that predominates in social networks. “Rat people want to be exactly the opposite of the rest of the self -disciplined and glamorous Internet that goes to the gym,” Ophenia Liang, director of Digital Crew, a marketing agency specialized in Asia in Asia The cultivation broth. The rise of “rat people” is directly related to China’s economic situation. The country is going through a significant industrial slowdown, in which the IMF foresees a fall in the Growth estimate at 4% by 2025. Weakening of Yuan Chinese and the Tariff war with the US They reflect instability and uncertainty for the country’s economic future. Youth unemployment is one of the key factors behind this phenomenon. In March 2025, the unemployment rate among young people aged 16 to 24 reached 16.5%, after having touched a historical record of 21.3% in June 2023. For many, even getting a job implies undergoing the exhausting culture “996”, which has led to a part of the youth to completely reject the traditional work model and Find more sustainable alternatives and less sacrificed. New ways of understanding work and future. According to ERIC FU statements, principal researcher of the Youth Research Collective of the University of Melbourne, popularity these philosophical tendencies between China’s generation should not be seen only as a generational defeat, but as an evolution in the way of understanding work and life. “This shows that people are beginning to seriously reflect on the work they really want to do and the meaning of their life. It also demonstrates that Chinese society has diversified in a certain sense,” FU recalled. Although many of these young people can afford this lifestyle thanks to their parents’ savings, it does not mean that they want to live like this forever. In Xataka | China’s future after being the great Western factory In Xataka | The simple suspicion of being Pro-Japan can sink your brand in China: it is happening to a beverage company Image | Unspash (Slyfox Photography, Dylann Hendricks)

In 1938 Franco commissioned an experiment with prisoners in a monastery of Burgos. Thus began the search for the “communist” gene

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In the list of darker experiments that once launched in Spain there is one that continues to remain in the top positions. It happened at the end of the 1930s inside an architecture that today is historical heritage, A abbey trapped on the outskirts of Burgos. The basis for carrying out the study started from a premise as simple as Martian: The communist, is born or done? In search of the “red” gene. Between 1938 and 1939, In full Spanish Civil Warthe Franco regime undertook one of the most sinister experiments in its history. Under the direction of Psychiatrist Antonio Vallejo-NájeraHead of the psychiatric services of Franco’s army, a study that sought to find a biological predisposition to Marxism, what he called the Marxist fanaticism biopsiquism. The purpose of this research was to demonstrate that communism and democratic ideologies were not the result of a conscious choice, but rather of A hereditary biopsychic tara, a mental inferiority that could be identified. Context: The regime psychiatrist. Vallejo-Nájera (1889-1960) was One of the most influential figures of Franco’s psychiatry. With training in Germany, where he came into contact with Nazi psychiatry, he developed a racial and genetic theory applied to the Spanish context, arguing that Marxism was the result of mental inferiority and that it should be eradicated from the root. In 1938, Franco assigned him the direction of the Psychiatric Services of the Francoist Armywhat allowed him to lead A pseudoscientific program based on eugenics, xenophobic psychology and coercive psychiatry. San Pedro de Cardeña became its experimentation laboratory, where international republican prisoners and brigades were subjected to evidence in order to “decipher” the communist psyche. Facade of the monastery The excuse. The study, financed and approved by Franco, It was developed for ten months, analyzing those prisoners of war through psychological testsanthropomorphic measurements and behavioral evaluations. Your conclusionspublished in the Spanish magazine of Medicine and War Surgery, would serve as justification for one of the most brutal policies of Franco: the systematic separation of the children of Republicans of their families to avoid their “ideological contagion”, the segregation of prisoners and The consolidation of a dictatorship that relied on scientific manipulation to eradicate dissent. The “study.” The epicenter of the investigation, as we said before, was the then concentration camp of San Pedro de Cardeñaan old monastery in Burgos that was converted into a detention center for Republican prisoners and International Brigades Members. The Vallejo-Nájera study divided prisoners into five large groupseach analyzed with preconceived hypothesis about their “biological degeneration.” Namely: International Brigadistas: It was sought to contrast their characteristics with those of Spanish prisoners to identify differences in the “origin of Marxism.” Spanish Republican prisoners: considered key to finding the “red gene.” Republican dams: it was claimed that their political participation responded to uncontrolled sexual impulses. Catalan prisoners: analyzed as “doubly dangerous” for their “Marxist fanaticism” and “antispañolism”. Basque prisoners: considered an “anomalous” group, as they were Catholics, but “contaminated by the revolutionary element.” Plus: the analysis included cranial measurements, facial studies and personality tests, all with the intention of finding common physical and psychological features between The Marxists. The results were not only biased, obvious, but served as an ideological basis for justifying the persecution and extermination of Republicans. Pseudoscientific conclusions. After months of “research”, Vallejo-Nájera He published his conclusions in the Spanish Magazine of Medicine and War Surgery. Among its most aberrant and extreme postulates, there were assertions such as Marxism is linked to mental inferiority. According to the psychiatrist, the communists were mostly “antisocial psychopaths” and His segregation from childhood would prevent society from “suffering its plague”. He also stressed that Democracies promote resentment. In his vision, democratic regimes allowed the “social failed” to triumph through public policies, in contrast to authoritarian regimes, which favored the most suitable. I also thought that Marxism was a racial phenomenon. Influenced by Nazi ideology, man proposed the need for “racial purification” to eradicate the elements considered “dangerous” to Spain. For all this, he indicated that The militarization of society was the only solution. In other words, he defended a model in which military discipline had to permeate all institutions, from school to the theater, to guarantee the “superiority of the Spanish race.” The role of women. Another of the darkest aspects of his study was the characterization of republican women as An “irrational” and “dangerous” being. According to Vallejo-Nájera Women participated in politics only for uncontrolled sexual impulsesand Marxism in women was a consequence of their “weak mental balance”, which made them more prone to cruelty. In fact and as we said, I thought that religion was the only one that could act as a brake to avoid its moral “corruption.” These ideas were also used as a justification to restrict women’s participation in public life and to establish a model of a woman submissive to the service of the homeland. The theft of children: applying the study. We indicate it at the beginning. One of the most abominable legacies of Vallejo-Nájera’s theories was The implementation of a forced separation system of the children of Republicans. His theory suggested that Children from Marxist families had to be separated from their parents to avoid its “ideological contamination.” What happened? That The reasoning resulted in the systematic theft of babiesa practice that continued even after Franco. In fact, it is estimated that thousands of children were taken from their families and delivered to institutions or families related to the regime, in what is considered one of the greatest crimes of Franco. Gestapo and Nazism. The San Pedro de Cardeña experiment was not carried out in isolation, but It was attended by members of the Gestapo and German scientists who conducted tests in Republican prisoners. This collaboration reflected the ideological and methodological links between Franco and Nazism, especially in the use of psychiatry as a tool of political repression. (Re) discovering the experiment. The truth is that, for decades, Vallejo-Nájera’s investigations were forgotten, protected by the silence imposed by Franco. So it … Read more

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