• Question: how dose looking at wormes help you work out what brian cells do?

    Asked by jorden69 to Rachael on 14 Jun 2011. This question was also asked by sc2k12lad.
    • Photo: Rachael Ward

      Rachael Ward answered on 14 Jun 2011:

      Hi @jorden69

      Great question!
      It may sound strange but the brain cells or “neurons” in worms are surprisingly similar to some of those in humans. I study neurons that contain a chemical called serotonin in my worms but mammals, including humans, also have these same neurons and we have shown that the way they work is “conserved” (or stays the same) from worms to humans. In humans serotonin is involved in mood and depression and we hope that by looking at how serotonin works in worms, we will understand it better in humans and design better drugs for depression.

      We call worms a “model organism” which we use in place of a human as the worm nervous system is a lot simpler than a humans – it has only 302 neurons, humans have billions! We are also able to put the worms under the microscope and look at their neurons whereas to do this in humans would be impossible without slicing up their brain! You can see some pictures of worms on my profile page if youre interested.

      I hope this helps, a really important question!

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