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Why you should care about Mapping of the Fruit Fly’s Brain?

Prelims Only | Science Tech | Mains Paper 3: Awareness in various sc and tech fields

Why in the News?

Researcher have successfully mapped the entire brain of an adult fruit fly, marking the first time researchers have created such a detailed map of an adult animal’s brain.

How Was the Fruit Fly Brain Mapped?

  • The process of mapping Fruit Flies (Drosophila melanogaster) brain began in 2013.
  • Scientists dunked the brain of an adult fruit fly in a chemical bath, hardening it into a solid block.
  • This process involved 7,050 sections of the brain and produced 21 million photos to map the entire brain.
  • The first high-resolution image of the brain was created more than a decade after the work started.

Key findings

  • Scientists identified more than 50 million connections between 139,000 neurons (brain nerve cells).
  • They classified the cells into 8,453 distinct types, making it the largest catalogue of cell types in any brain.
  • The research gave insights into how different types of cells function and how the fruit fly’s eyes process motion and color.
  • A group of “hub neurons” was discovered, which may help speed up information flow.

Significance of the Work

  • Although the human brain is more complex, the logic of how neurons communicate is similar between fruit flies and humans.
  • Fruit flies are a valuable model system for neuroscience. Their brains solve many of the same problems that human brains do.
  • It could help in understanding and treat mental health conditions like Parkinson’s and depression.
  • The mapping of the fruit fly’s brain raises hopes that scientists will eventually be able to map the entire human brain.