tasting light?

tasting light !

Connectomics is an integral part of network neuroscience. The field has undergone rapid expansion over recent years and increasingly involves a blend of experimental and computational approaches to brain connectivity. The idea that connections among neural elements are crucial for brain function has been central to modern neuroscience almost since its inception. The Connectome is a comprehensive diagram of all the neural connections existing in the brain.

Assistant professor Bobby department of Neurobiology at The University of Chicago, explains how mapping the way neurons connect could unlock the secrets to being human.

2015 to 2019 - discovery of

protein LITE-1 to now its function:

Scientists have discovered a new type of photoreceptor protein that is about 50 times more efficient at capturing light than the rhodopsin, a protein that resides in cell membranes in the retina of the human eye.

The protein called LITE-1, was discovered in the nematode worm Caenorhabditis elegans, photoreceptor actually comes from a family of taste receptor proteins first discovered in insects, by the Department of Molecular and Integrative Physiology at the University of Michigan Medical School. But, these, however, are not the same taste receptors as in mammals.

A pair of nurons

Human taste receptors, as defined by being connected to the tasting areas of the brain, aren’t particularly tuned to hydrogen peroxide , but there are receptors in our eyes which are.

The obvious hypothesis is that the eye uses these receptors to detect the effects of excess UV light in the eye, perhaps triggering the eye to close (though that isn’t known for now). What is known is that the roundworm uses just one pair of neurons to do its light detection.

Why Caenorhabditis elegans?

Many of the genes in the C. elegans genome have functional counterparts in humans which makes it an extremely useful model for human diseases.
C. elegans mutants provide models for many human diseases including neurological disorders, congenital heart disease and kidney disease.
C. elegans mutants can be screened with thousands of potential drugs for important diseases.
Studying cell death or ‘apoptosis’ in the C. elegans could hold the key to counteracting the effects of ageing in humans as well as providing clues about cancer, diabetes and other diseases.