digestion
dr. dolittle | January 23, 2017 Asian house shrew image by W.A. Djatmiko (Wie146) - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0.
The stomach and small intestine of many species moves rhythmically during fasting, something called the rhythmic 'migrating motor complex', or MMC. The MMC has 3 phases: no contraction, intermittent small contractions followed by regular large contractions. These contractions are thought to help clean the GI tract by moving along debris and bacteria as well as preparing our guts for the next meal. They are also the cause of 'stomach rumbles' when we are hungry. If the time between contractions is too long or…
dr. dolittle | July 8, 2015I came across this neat press release from the American Physiological Society which describes new research on understanding how the genes of burmese pythons are actually altered by feeding. Fascinating! The research was published in the May issue of Physiological Genomics. Here is a brief synopsis. For the full story, visit the APS website.
Yep, that's a python eating a rodent.
What is so fascinating about Burmese pythons is that their body literally is reconstructed within 3 days of eating resulting in the doubling or organ size and a 10-44 fold increase in metabolism. Then, within about…
dr. dolittle | March 16, 2013Here's to the physiology of drinking beer on St. Patrick's Day:
Cheers!!
