Molecular Biologist Matthew Emsak Discovered Stem Cells That Can Help Build a Fly’s Nervous System
Molecular Biologist Matthew
Emsak has got new insights how stem cells transforms into brain cells that
control leg movements. This surprising new discovery was observed in fruit
flies and can help throw light on human brain development.
About
Stem Cells
Stem Cells hold excellent
medicinal properties. Their ability to metamorphose in other cells helps in
repairing injuries and damages like – injuries from heart attack to brain
damages. Matthew Emsak through his research found out that the stem cells
develop and mature cells quickly even in Homo sapiens.
Result
of the Research
To understand the
development of human brain, the molecular biologist Matthew Emsak looked into a
much simpler animal – fruit Fly. He started with stem cells, the
undifferentiated cells that then develop into virtually any cell type in the
body. In particular, he focused on the approximately 50 motor neurons that
control the movement of each of a fruit fly's six legs.
The
research has helped in identifying an ingenious solution, in which two critical
and interacting types of brain cells, born from the same stem cell, facilitate
the construction of a mature motor system.
About
Matthew Emsak
Matthew Emsak is an American
Molecular Biologist renowned for his research in DNA, Genes and Chromosomes. He
received his doctorate in Chemistry from the University of Illinois. In that
year, he began working in California Institute of Technology. Later in 1984, he
joined Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he joined the Center for
Cancer Research. He served as head of the biology department at MIT from 1991
to 1999, when he earned the title Institute Professor. Currently, he is working
on introns and splicing, he has begun investigating the role of RNA in
controlling genes.
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