Brainbow
Neuroscientists at Harvard have developed a way of fluorescently lighting up the brains of mice with up to 90 different shades of colors. They inserted a string of four color producing genes which were all controlled by a genetic system called Cre/ lox.
The system was designed to randomly promote the expression of just one of the four color genes. Then multiple copies of this string of genes and the control system were inserted into the genome of mouse embryonic stem cells. The stem cells were used to make transgenic mice, whose brain’s cells lit up in different colors based on the random mixture of colors being picked to be expressed in each cell. Each color string has the ability to express one of four colors of fluorescent proteins: yellow, red, cyan, and either orange or green. Thus when multiple copies of the string are put into one cells, it could result in a lot of red, and a little blue and a little green, resulting in a distinct shade.
This new visualization technique is exciting because the connections between neurons can be seen more clearly. The brain cells are intertwined so much that tracking which cells connect with which other cells before was essentially impossible. Karel Svoboda, a neuroscientist explains the possibilities of the new technique this way, “Brainbow will allow you to trace neuronal circuits over long distances — maybe across centimeters of tissue. You can see how different neuronal circuits relate to each other in the same animal."
I think that this research is particularly exciting because it could give rise to a better understanding of which areas communicate with each other and will show if there are consistent pathways or connections made by the same neuron in different mice. It might show a connection between areas of the brain that were not known before, giving insight into how different signals are processed to yield the various responses. I think this technique could someday be used to show how the brain cells develop and intertwine with each other as the brain develops, if it is possible to take multiple pictures of the fluorescent colors over time. The technology could also be used in neurological diseases like Alzheimer’s disease, where plaque is interfering with the connections being made between individual cells.
http://www.nature.com/news/2007/071031/full/news.2007.209.html
The system was designed to randomly promote the expression of just one of the four color genes. Then multiple copies of this string of genes and the control system were inserted into the genome of mouse embryonic stem cells. The stem cells were used to make transgenic mice, whose brain’s cells lit up in different colors based on the random mixture of colors being picked to be expressed in each cell. Each color string has the ability to express one of four colors of fluorescent proteins: yellow, red, cyan, and either orange or green. Thus when multiple copies of the string are put into one cells, it could result in a lot of red, and a little blue and a little green, resulting in a distinct shade.
This new visualization technique is exciting because the connections between neurons can be seen more clearly. The brain cells are intertwined so much that tracking which cells connect with which other cells before was essentially impossible. Karel Svoboda, a neuroscientist explains the possibilities of the new technique this way, “Brainbow will allow you to trace neuronal circuits over long distances — maybe across centimeters of tissue. You can see how different neuronal circuits relate to each other in the same animal."
I think that this research is particularly exciting because it could give rise to a better understanding of which areas communicate with each other and will show if there are consistent pathways or connections made by the same neuron in different mice. It might show a connection between areas of the brain that were not known before, giving insight into how different signals are processed to yield the various responses. I think this technique could someday be used to show how the brain cells develop and intertwine with each other as the brain develops, if it is possible to take multiple pictures of the fluorescent colors over time. The technology could also be used in neurological diseases like Alzheimer’s disease, where plaque is interfering with the connections being made between individual cells.
http://www.nature.com/news/2007/071031/full/news.2007.209.html
posted by Rachel at 7:46 AM
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