Bio-terrorism, giant squid, and you

Ummmmmmmmmm :goofysca:

What language was that in?

oooopops, another new member ..... gotta go
 
Dudes,

Actually, this article rocks! This is astouding news! Essentially, you have a cloned cell or cells (actually, probably grown in a culture medium), that apparently shows reception of certain neurotransmitters thought to be found only in vertebrates. The Xenopus of which they speak is probably Xenopus laevis or Xenopus mullieri which are species of African clawed frogs.

Oh, and cDNA are strong, cloned copies of messenger RNA, which is the messenger element of DNA that helps in the coding of proteins.

The fact that there are receptors mean that the DNA of these octos has a region that codes for the given neurotransmitters. Since neurotransmitters affect behavior, the production of this transmitter may indicate an affinity for behavior or explain certain behaviors questioned by scientists. It also helps us crack their genetic code.

Basically, regions of DNA code for proteins, or polypeptides, as the case may be. These regions of DNA code for the same polypeptide, no matter the species.

Sweet giant anteater of Santa Anita! This goes way beyond convergent evolution! This means that cephalopods are utilizing more neurotransmitters than previously thought! I need this article....

Thanks for the heads up!

Sushi and Sake!

John
 
Oh, and just in case you were wondering:

The article mentioned Cl- and Ca2+ ions... My guess is that they meant the use of ionic "pumps" (changes of concentration of ions across a cell membrane) to move action potentials (think of a nerve firing) from one neuron to the next.

Very cool article.

John
 
[poking head out from the Introduce Yourself forum]

I knew someone would find this article useful! :heee: Let us know if anyone purchases it. Obviously it wouldn't be permissable to reproduce the article here, but sounds like good fodder for discussion.

John, I think I almost nearly followed your post after a couple of reads. Honestly, I think I would have taken all of this for granted. I mean, how else would an octopus brain be expected to work? A question; do octopuses have synapses (or does this article now imply that they do)?

Regardless of that, I follow you re: convergent evolution. I'm still pretty baffled at how our eyes can be so similar, although we followed totally different paths.

And from what I gather, there's a giant anteater in Santa Anita! Someone better tell the ants! :P
 
Tony,

I would say yes, cephs do have the same structures (axons, synapses, terminals and receptors, etc.) that any animal with a brain has. And the giant cranial nerves in cephs are pretty much the same in function and structure as ours.

I guess that what makes this situation interesting is that someone is actually isolating the ceph neurochemistry. This can give us a lot of insight into their behavior, and their genetic code.

Well, if I were an endocrinologist, I would buy this article, but I think a lot of it would beat me into a pulp. Or "pulpo"... hee hee.... sorry, Spanish octopus joke there... :lol:

Sushi and sake,

John
 
John,

This article lies far outside my understanding, but I wonder if it might be relevant to one outstanding Architeuthis mystery, namely the presence of enzymes in the axons which appear capable of neutralizing toxic nerve agents. Could the results reported in Japan have any bearing on that?

:?:

Clem
 
dbbga said:
:shock: :P :shock: :?: :bonk: ok i just started studying the way the brain works in college, Im not ready for this yet :wink: :bonk:

dbbga,

The brain works in college? :wink:

:grad:

(Icon above depicts Clem moments before his brain took a stroll)
 
Hee hee! Good one!

Seriously though, I don't think that the chems in question were exactly dealing with neurotoxin antivenom, BUT you never know.

Really? Archis are immune to certain neurotoxins? Okay, well, you know WHY this would be, right? It means either their prey or their predators at one time or another could have been venomous! Amazing!

Well, neurotoxins work by bonding to active sites and inhibiting the action potential at the synapse by bonding to receptor sites thus stopping or changing the given action potential. Sweet, huh?

John
 
Fujisawas Sake said:
Well, neurotoxins work by bonding to active sites and inhibiting the action potential at the synapse by bonding to receptor sites thus stopping or changing the given action potential. Sweet, huh?

John
:sleeping: ....oh yes of course whatever you say, sorry this lecture seem's a tad boring... :lol: ,i was starting to drool, and might i add that i study this stuff during daylight hours in my uni, why should i need to spend my leisure time reading tech stuff on ceph's on here anyway's :lol: ?
 
Yeah... :oops:

Point well taken. I tend to get overzealous when I find a thread that sparks my interest. I loved comparative psych. and always tend to get really excited about these sorts of things. Honestly speaking, maybe I get too excited for my own good.

Sushi and Sake,

John
 
Fujisawas Sake said:
Yeah... :oops:

Point well taken. I tend to get overzealous when I find a thread that sparks my interest. I loved comparative psych. and always tend to get really excited about these sorts of things. Honestly speaking, maybe I get too excited for my own good.

Sushi and Sake,

John

Me too ..... you're in good company John. It's just that this one went right over my head. Right now I'm buzzing over comparative squid hook morphology. Not really the sort of thing any 'normal' person would be thinking about over a bottle of red on a Sunday night .... but the sort of thing that keeps me awake into the early hours, itching to get back beneath the microscope and learn more.

Just how many times was Spike Milligan intitutionalised?
Cheers
O
 

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