Scientists have discovered an unusual brain, capable of self-regeneration. Study marine Ctenophore, once considered the simplest form of life, showed the presence of this unique species of animal nervous system, which can help to find new ways to treat diseases associated with degenerative brain disease .
Researchers from the University of Florida found that the development of the nervous system of marine Ctenophore went differently than other representatives of the animal kingdom. For this they called him an alien sea.
"Faced with a stranger, you will think that he is not with us nothing. No need to wait any longer - these aliens living among us, - said the study's lead author Leonid Moroz of the University of Florida.
In an article published last week in the journal Nature, describes the work of the group of scientists studying the genetic code of comb jellies (Ctenophora). As it turned out, the development of the body of these invertebrates going much harder than in marine sponges, which are the oldest branch of the evolutionary development and do not have the neuromuscular system.
According to the researchers, the results may not only lead to a revision of ideas about the evolution of animals, but also to the creation of new drugs for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's or Parkinson's, and opening up new opportunities for bioengineering.
"Some ctenophores elementary brain can regenerate in three and a half days. In one experiment, comb blade (Bolinopsis) restored his brain four times - said Frost.
The researchers found that many of the genes controlling the development of the nervous system, in Ctenophore either absent or not expressed. Ctenophore body does not involve serotonin, dopamine, acetylcholine signaling between neurons, which is typical for other species. Instead, it uses a unique set of peptides, glutamate neurotransmitters, genetic editing, and various electrical synapses, the British newspaper Daily Mail.
It is hoped that the discovery that the nervous system is formed by more than one way, as previously thought, and a few, can not only help slow the progression of Parkinson's disease, and reverse this process.