We have a lot of debt of our understanding of how memory works in the brain of a proud water slug called Aplysia californicus. It is as long as one foot, purple, and has been popular with scientists since the 1960’s because its neurons are large enough to block an electrode.
This was not the only time that researchers explored the ocean floor to find answers to our questions: Giant squid eight than we do). Octopus provides information sleep apnea.
Brady Weissbourd, a professor of biology and biological engineering at Caltech, states: “There is a long, fascinating history of people going to the invertebrates for any of the questions that arose at that time.” Weissbourd is the lead author at a recent paper mu Village which brings another creature into the cage – a jellyfish that has been genetically modified so that its nerves glow in the event of a fire. It can give us new insights into mental processes very different from ours.
Jellyfish, especially marine mammals Clytia hemisphaerica, was a man worthy of scientific research. It is about a centimeter wide when it has grown well — small enough to fit a microscope slide — and, like most jellyfish, is visible. The researchers built a project by launching a DNA snippet called GCaMP, which produces green fluorescent proteins. GCaMP has been widely used in the study of mice, zebras, and flies, but it is mainly derived from jellyfish that are closely related to Clytia, so the Weissbourd team also had to break down the genes of other green fluorescent proteins that are naturally found within them.
Putting bright genes, they took advantage Clytia‘s unique life around. Her reproductive system is caused by light. Weissbourd reports: “Within two hours of real electricity, the jellyfish release eggs and sperm from the water.” The researchers turned the lights on, extracted the eggs, and injected them with a tiny piece of green fluorescent marker they wanted to insert, along with a protein that contributed to the jellyfish DNA.
Sperm eggs grow into larvae, which swarm around looking for solid ground to fit in – in nature, this can be a rock, in a lab slide the microscope provides a useful memory. From there, they grow a small piece that stays in one group. These cities are immortal, and they produce baby medusae — which in a matter of weeks develop into gelatinous, shower-like creatures called jellyfish. Weissbourd observes: “They look like a flower or something. “Their job is to go and spread the seeds.”
Now, researchers have a microscopic organism that can be seen using a microscope as it feeds (melted shrimp food) and bends its body, while the neurons that control those behaviors shine. Weissbourd said: “You can test the most accurate ones, looking at all neuron activity over time in the animal’s activity.” He can read his thoughts – and they are ideas that are very different from anything we know.