It’s been said laughter is the best medicine, but no one has yet to prove it. Now a Japanese scientist is unlocking the secrets of the funny bone, which he believes can cheer up people’s genes. Geneticist Kazuo Murakami has teamed up on the study with an unlikely research partner: stand-up comedians, who he hopes -- no joke -- can turn their one-liners into efficient, low-cost medical treatment.Genes are usually regarded as immutable, but in reality more than 90 percent of them are dormant or less active in producing protein, so some types of stimulation can wake them up.Murakami’s tentative theory is that laughter is one such stimulant, which can trigger energy inside a person’s DNA potentially helping cure disease.
