Two high-speed electron microscopes. 7,062 brain slices. 21 million images. For a team of scientists at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Janelia Research Campus in Ashburn, Virginia, these numbers add up to a technical first: a high-resolution digital snapshot of the adult fruit fly brain. Researchers can now trace the path of any one neuron…
Ancient DNA Tells Tales of Humans’ Migrant History
How Zika Infection Drives Fetal Demise
A powerful antiviral protein may act as a checkpoint for keeping or ending a pregnancy. When exposed to Zika virus before birth, mouse fetuses with the protein commit cell suicide, while fetuses without it continued to develop. The result, published January 5 in Science Immunology, suggests that the protein, a receptor involved in immune cell…
Mini-Microscopes Reveal Brain Circuitry Behind Social Behavior
Tiny microscopes mounted on mice’s heads have given researchers a peek into the neural circuitry of social behavior. Instincts such as mating or fighting are innate behaviors generally thought to be hardwired into an animal’s brain. But now, two studies that map brain activity in living mice reveal that social experiences can influence brain responses to other mice.…
Artificial Intelligence Helps Build Brain Atlas of Fly Behavior
A smart computer program named JAABA has helped scientists create a brain-wide atlas of fruit fly behavior. The machine-learning program tracked the position and cataloged the behaviors of 400,000 fruit flies, in more than 225 days of video footage, helping researchers match specific behaviors to different groups of neurons. “We wanted to understand what neurons…
