Spineless tales provide strong backbone to human brai...( own set of behaviors with the same br...)

As for flies, Tublitz outlined a tantalizing question, as yet unanswered, that has continued to take flight out of his lab for the last decade. Scientists for years, he said, have held "one hard rule" about what constitutes a neuron that a neuron cell always arises from the ectoderm of a developing embryo. However, a discovery in Drosophila fruit flies has softened that assumption.

Cells arising from the mesoderm rest in a layer on top of the fruit fly's nervous system, Tublitz explained. "These cells have all of the properties of nerve cells." A slide shown during his talk displayed a long list of characteristics most often applied, with only few exceptions, to neurons. "Are these mesodermal cells nerve cells? I can't answer that question conclusively, but we have generated data that suggest the answer may be 'yes'."

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Contact: Jim Barlow
jebarlow@uoregon.edu
541-346-3481
University of Oregon
14-Aug-2006