A new gene therapy turns down pain in the brain without triggering addiction, offering a smarter alternative to opioids. Credit: Shutterstock A new preclinical study has identified a gene therapy that directly targets pain-processing areas in the brain while avoiding the addiction risks linked to narcotic drugs. The findings could offer new hope to more than 50 million Americans living with chronic pain. Living with chronic pain is often compared to having a radio stuck at full volume, where