Fruitfly Brainbow!

By jtoney on February 8, 2011.

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Source.

Here is a compelling example of creative use of protein labeling technologies to view complex anatomy - a perfect complement to my ongoing series about fruit fly brains!

According to the paper in Nature Methods' Abstract: excerpted for the non-scientist;

To facilitate studies of neural network architecture and formation, we generated three types of fruit flies using the mouse Brainbow-2 system, called Flybow. Using the visual system, the embryonic nervous system and the wing imaginal disc, we show that Flybow can be used to visualize cell shape with high resolution. This could further support the genetic analysis of neural circuit assembly and function.

Supplementary Figure 4 | Expression pattern of MzVum-Gal4 in the adult optic lobe.

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Wow!

Also see: ScienceNow.

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Neurology
Technology

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