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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