Topic: Sea Slug Offers Clues to Human Brain Disorders

[Astronuc]

At any given time within a single brain cell of this marine snail (Aplysia), more than 10,000 genes are hard at work, suggests a new study looking at aspects of the sea slug's genome.

By probing the brain of Aplysia, researchers identified more than 100 genes similar to those associated with all major human neurological diseases and more than 600 genes controlling brain development.

The findings suggest that acts of learning or the progression of brain disorders do not take place in isolation, and instead stem from interactions between large clusters of genes within many cells.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aplysia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea_hare

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Principles_of_Neural_Science

http://www.rsmas.miami.edu/groups/sea-hares/

http://inka.mssm.edu/~seaslug/