Following scientific queries are open for discussion. Kindly feel free to share your views/queries/comments in the comments section:
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20 Feb 2009, Chandigarh
I was skiming through the Encylopedia of Human Body to know how information is exchanged by various polarization/depolarization events, how various neuronal synapses or connections help in memory storage etc . I also found a 2008 paper by The Wake Forest researchers about the role of dendritic proteosomes in controlling synaptic strength and another 2008 paper (Neuron, DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2007.02.022) that described dynamic DNA methylation events in neurons resulting in memory formation (addition of DNMT inhibitors wiped off memories of experimental treatment!) However, there are a lot of queries which I find unanswered. I thought of sharing some of them here:
1. How exactly the memory is retrived? If we try to find an analogy with computer memories, there has to be a some function that performs “motif/string matching”. How do current knowledge of neuroscience explains memory retrieval in biological systems?
2. I was just skimming through all the jokes my friends have sms’ed me all these years. There were some real funny types. Then it just struck me – “Why and How do we find certain things funny?” This question may apear naive at the first go but what I mean is – My Physiology book tells me how and why we sneeze, why do we have hiccups, how we hear so and so forth but it didn’t tell me the physiological basis of “laughing!” How do current knowledge of neurophysiology explains the processes which cause laughing?
Any clue Please feel free to use the comments section below!
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15 Dec 2008, Chandigarh
As I was going through my undergrad genetics book (Genetics by Benzamin Pierce), I came across some exciting facts that stimulated me as much as they captivated me three years back when I first came across them. One of them is feminizing effects of Wolbachia strain in the isopod Armadillidium vulgare. In 1973, a french group published an exciting paper (Martin, G., Juchault, P. & Legrand, J. J. 1973. C. R. Acad. Sci. Paris III 276, 2313-2316.) in which they reported that Males infected with Wolbachia become functionally females in Armadillidium vulgare.
Actually, Wolbachia bacteria reside in the isopod cells and are transmitted through one isopod to another strictly through the cytoplasm of an isopod egg; because sperms contain little or no cytoplasm, the bacteria are not trasmitted by males. Thus bacteria that end up inside a male isopod are at a dead end. So, over evolutionary time, these bacteria have developed an ability to convert male isopods into females!
The first thing that comes to mind is ‘How’? Since this was reported first in 1973 and has been followed by a lot of reports, I am hopeful to find an answer to the mechanistic aspects. While this also highlights the intelligent moves developed by cells to promote their survival, what is more inquisitive to me about this conversion is that How on earth do these bacteria get to know that they are inside a male cell?
Any clue? Please feel free to use the comments section.
