Beyond Recognizing Odors, Single Neuron Controls Reactions in Worms

piggy submitted, created time 2 months 4 days (www.sciencedaily.com)

ScienceDaily (Nov. 2, 2008) — Babies will smile when they catch the scent of vanilla, but a whiff of rotting meat will send them into fits. From people to mice and flies to worms, animals of all kinds are born with likes and dislikes thanks to the evolutionary wisdom collected in their genes. But new research shows that some preferences are still surprisingly flexible at even the most basic level — that of the sensory neuron itself — and that our nervous system may be even more adaptable than we thought

1 comment | Blog It | Email It | Keywords: cognition senses smell scent worms neurons nervous system

The similarity between human and fly

Sue Wu submitted, created time 9 months 2 weeks (www.sciencedaily.com)

According to researchers at the Monell Center, fruit flies are more like humans in their responses to many sweet tastes than are almost any other species.

2 comments | Blog It | Email It | Keywords: taste senses five senses sweetness tasting tastes sweet genomics drosophila human brain fruit flies

How sweet it is? ...intranuclear gene expression

Darkfrog submitted, created time 1 year 10 months (stke.sciencemag.org)

Metabolic enzymes may play a role in intra-nuclear regulation of gene expression in plants. A study from the University of British Columbia explores this with the HXK1 glucose sensor gene in plants.

Submit comment | Blog It | Email It | Keywords: senses plants botany genes gene expression