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So You Think You Can Dance?
Thursday 22nd November 2012 | Olga
So you think you can dance? Doing the wave is not just a move that can be executed by breakdancers- our slippery friends, the worms, have been caught doing similar ripples as a means of communication. Dancing for humans is one of the many means for transmitting and communicating something. To do so, we use different neurons to transmit what we sense and how we relay the information to muscle cells. However, the worms pack both communication systems into a single type of nerve cell. So these dances are essential to them.
Three experiments were carried out: one where the worms were observed to wriggle those bodies depending on the density of the liquid around them; another where there tails were immobilized when the middle of their bodies were restrained; and the third where the worms that were genetically engineered to contain a light-sensitive protein locked in place when hit by a laser. The blast deactivated the neurons controlling movements. So you might be unimpressed by what these weirdo geeks classify as an amusing activity, while they rock it up in the lab. But here’s the video anyways- who needs LSD?? Let’s get ready for the weekend!
- by Olga Formalnova
