Life Lines by Dr. Dolittle

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Archive for February 2018

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Stem cell implant regrows axons in monkeys with spinal cord injury

  A new study published yesterday in Nature Medicine, presents research showing that grafting human neural stem cells into the spine of rhesus monkeys with recent spinal cord injuries improves the animal’s ability to grasp oranges. The researchers found that grafted stem cells matured into neurons (image below) that began connecting with the monkey’s existing neurons. This was the first time this type of research was performed in primates and may thus […]

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Individuality in woodpeckers

Animals, like people, have unique sounds that allow them to recognize individuals. For example, you can hear a great spotted woodpecker calling in the first portion of this YouTube video below. In another YouTube video, we see a great spotted woodpecker doing what woodpeckers do best…pecking at wood. Woodpeckers peck (i.e. drum) to ward off rivals as well as attract mates. In a new study published in PLoS ONE, researchers examined […]

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Very high intensity exercise: hovering

I just read an interesting review published in Physiology of flight energetics and fuel use in nectar feeding hummingbirds and bats. While flight is considered pretty high intensity exercise, hovering flight is even more demanding. Hummingbirds and nectar feeding bats are really tiny and thus have very high metabolisms to maintain body heat. Some of these animals are also migratory, which is an even greater energy demand. Remarkably, they sustain […]

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Drosophila help researchers understand rare genetic disorder

Barth Syndrome is a rare genetic disorder that affects mainly males. It is characterized by impaired lipid metabolism, muscle weakness, growth delays, cardiomyopathy, and low numbers of neutrophils in the blood, which renders patients with the condition more susceptible to infections. There is no known cure for Barth Syndrome. In the past, patients with Barth syndrome often died by the age of three from infections or heart failure (Barth Syndrome […]

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Monogamy is good for the heart

In honor of Valentine’s Day, let’s talk about prairie voles (Microtus ochrogaster). These animals are often used to study pair bonding because they are one of only a handful of mammalian species that form lifelong socially monogamous pair bonds after mating and cohabitating for at least 6 hours. According to a study published several years ago in Nature Neuroscience, this pair bonding behavior is regulated by specific genes in their […]

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Could research on fruit flies improve human sleep?

A new study conducted by researchers at Cincinnati Children’s in collaboration with Kyoto University has provided evidence that drosophila and mammals have similar proteins in their brain that help regulate the rhythm of body temperatures that are important in normal metabolism as well as sleep. According to a quote from Dr. Fumika Hamada, a lead study author, “We’re looking for a mechanistic understanding of how body temperature rhythms are regulated. […]

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