Well done! You have grown to over 600 cells and have hatched from your eggshell as a larval worm!

You can now move around and start feeding on nearby bacteria.

Neurons

The electricity that keeps us ticking

Nobel Laurette, Lord Edgar Adrian worked at the Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience here at the Downing site from 1919 -1957.

Using a frog, he identified how information is transmitted through the nervous system by electrical currents.

Central to his work was his finding that stronger reactions to stimuli lead to an increase in the frequency of electrical currents sent by neurons, rather than an increase in the current's strength.

The Adrian Seminar Series is still an active part of the department today. Edgar Adrian shared the Nobel Prize with Sir Charles Sherrington for their work on neurons in 1932.

 Making new neurons

Microscopy image of a normal Drosophila larval brain showing the optic lobe which will become part of the eye in the adult fly. Neurons are stained in green and stem cells in red by Dr Oriol llora Batllé

Microscopy image of the optic lobe in larval brain where the genes that control stem cell replication have been turned off - this has caused some neurons to turn back into stem cells (shown in red). Image by Dr Oriol llora Batllé

Researchers at the Gurdon Institute study how stem cells in the brain form neurons.

During this process, genes involved in increasing the number of stem cells are turned-off, allowing the development of neurons and their proper function.

However, in some situations, these genes can get incorrectly turned on, causing uncontrolled proliferation of neurons. This may lead to the formation of tumours which impair brain function.

Researchers are trying to understand this process to develop strategies to prevent the formation of brain tumours in humans. Fruit fly are used as a model organism because brain development has been very well characterised in this insect and there are many genetic tools that allow all sort of experiments to be performed!

  • Big teeth and ancient bones,

    You’ll find nearby if you look close,

    come and see me if you have time today

    but which museum am I on display?

  • There is a museum here full of dinosaurs. Can you find out what it’s called?

*Remember to start your answer with a Capital letter.

“Newton was our greatest English scientist and I do not think that anyone living in such surroundings could fail to be infected with the spirit of scientific enquiry.”

— Edgar Adrian on living in Cambridge, Nobel Prize speech, 1932.