Eternal Sunshine..cont'd

 When you think of a brain what normally comes to mind is something that looks like a pile of noodles or a tangled clump of cables, but the structure of the brain is the exact opposite.  It consists of parallel structures of fibers that are arranged in a rather orderly fashion and resemble a bunch of ribbons neatly laid out.  Researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital developed a new way to map the brain through longitudes and latitudes using MRI technology.“ 'Everywhere they looked, they found a geometric architectural principle that transcends any particular part of the brain,” said Karl Friston, scientific director of the Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging in London and an authority on brain imaging, who was not involved in the research. “It’s such a fundamentally simple organization,” said Friston, who called the work “substantial” and “convincing'" (Scudellari 2012) For years scientists have been trying to figure out the structure of primate brains without much success.  These new findings will help them learn more about the structure of the brain and how it can be mapped effectively.  The ordered structure of the brain makes a lot more sense in terms of natural selection than the old notions of a tangled mess did.  The information discovered by the researchers in Massachusetts help explain the development of the complexity of the brain.  From this research neuroscientists will be able to learn more about how the brian works and how to diagnose brain problems.http://the-scientist.com/2012/03/29/a-beautiful-mind/http://the-scientist.com/2012/03/29/a-beautiful-mind/

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

Licking Swings and Kissing Dogs

It's a known fact that small children put everything in their mouth, which until recently was thought to be a bad thing.  A new study suggests however that "early exposure to microbes is essential for normal immune development, supporting the so-called “hygiene hypothesis” which states that lack of such exposure leads to an increased risk of autoimmune diseases. Specifically, the study found that early-life microbe exposure decreases the number of inflammatory immune cells in the lungs and colon, lowering susceptibility to asthma and inflammatory bowel diseases later in life"(Scudellari).  This study could help explain why there is an increase of autoimmune disease in countries that use a lot of antibiotics.  Not much is known about when people should be exposes to microbes, but evidence suggests that it should be when people are young and that this exposure can prevent asthma and ulcerative colitis.  Scientists at Harvard performed a study on mice and found that the mice that were in a sterile environment were more susceptible to both diseases than those that were exposed to microbes.  One of the scientists says, "it does fit the “hygiene hypothesis,” he said, which proposes that the increasing occurrence of asthma and other inflammatory diseases in the developed world may be due to a reduced exposure to microbes early in life. But most importantly, future studies of human microbiota and the immune system should zero in on early childhood, he emphasized. “It’s quite important to focus on this early period," (Scudellari). http://the-scientist.com/2012/03/22/let-them-eat-dirt/

So long sweet tooth

Scientists have found that many mammals are losing their sweet taste receptors. They believe that the loss of the "sweet tooth" evolved as a result of carnivorous animal's eating behaviors.  They mostly eat meet and therefore have no need for a sweet taste receptor. "In mammals, sweet taste is mediated by the type 1 taste receptor, made up of two closely related G-protein coupled receptors, Tas1r2 and Tas1r3. Beauchamp and his team sequenced Tas1r2 in 12 species from the mammalian order Carnivora. They found mutations in Tas1r2 in 7 of the species—sea lions, fur seals, Pacific harbor seals, bottlenose dolphins, Asian small-clawed otters, spotted hyenas, cat-like fossas from Madagascar, and banded linsangs (a type of civet). “I was dumbfounded how common it was,” said Beauchamp." (thescientist.com) Because of these mutations these species have lost their sweet tooth and when sweets were presented to them they were uninterested.http://the-scientist.com/2012/03/12/sayonara-sweet-tooth/

Jurassic Park Flea Style

Paleontologists excavating in eastern China recently discovered perfectly preserved fossils of fleas.  The fossils are thought to be 125-165 million years old. This outdoes the current oldest fossil record by 60 million years.  This discovery gives scientists clues as to how the fleas fed on their prey.  These ancient fleas were not only giant, but also wingless.  The fossilized fleas were about two times larger than modern fleas.  In addition to their winglessness the fleas also did not have back legs, which leads scientists to believe that they fed on their prey by hiding in the skin.  They also had serrated jaws as apposed to smooth siphons.  These giant fleas are one of the many discoveries that are helping scientists learn about early life forms.http://the-scientist.com/2012/03/01/jurassic-parasites/

Skin Tissue Most Important Part of the Immune System?

Originally it was believed that the most effective way to give a vaccine is through the muscle. Due to recent discoveries, scientist are beginning to believe that vaccines should be given through peripheral tissue in the skin. "The researchers showed that a population of immune cells called resident memory T cells, which are present in parts of the body that are in contact with the environment, such as the skin, gut, and lungs, mediate an immune response far stronger than circulating, or central, memory T cells in the blood stream." (http://the-scientist.com/2012/02/29/skin-deep-immunity/)  Because of this vaccines could be more effective if given through those cells. In a recent study resident memory T cells and circulating T cells were pitted against each other to see which one was a more powerful part of the immune system and resident memory T cells won. The cells spread from the site of the infection to other parts of the body and stay there for six months to help heal the infection. The next step is for scientists to find out how long the cells reside in the skin and new methods of vaccination.http://the-scientist.com/2012/02/29/skin-deep-immunity/