Biotechnologist Sebastian Cocioba uses gene-editing to create new kinds of flowers from his home lab on Long Island, aiming to democratize genetic engineering.
The article from WIRED introduces Sebastian Cocioba, a biotechnologist who conducts plant engineering from his home lab on Long Island. Cocioba's journey in plant biotechnology began in his childhood with a fascination for plants, which later transformed into a passion for genetically modifying flowers to create novel varieties. Despite facing financial and academic challenges, Cocioba built a makeshift laboratory by acquiring equipment and using 3D printing to create affordable tools. His goal is to democratize the tools of genetic engineering and make them more accessible to amateurs. He documents his experiments online and sells plasmids used for flower transformation. Cocioba also collaborates with startups like Senseory Plants, aiming to engineer plants that emit unique scents, such as the aroma of old books, thereby redefining the indoor plant experience.
Researchers from ISTA and Max Planck Institute have uncovered new details about molecular mechanisms driving memory processing at mossy fiber synapses in the hippocampus, crucial for memory formation.
The hippocampus is known to convert short-term memory into long-term memory. The study sheds light on how structural and functional changes in mossy fiber synapses may facilitate the encoding and storage of memories in the hippocampus.
The new research focuses on the mossy fiber synapse, a key connection point between neurons in the hippocampus. The scientists used a novel technique called "Flash and Freeze" combined with freeze fracture labeling to study the dynamic changes in proteins Cav2.1 calcium channels and Munc13 during signal processing. They found that upon stimulation, these proteins rearranged and moved closer together, enhancing neurotransmitter release and potentially contributing to memory formation.
A unique resource for hippocampus researchers and learners, offering tools to build and explore models of the hippocampus and its components using powerful modeling workflows.
A new study reveals how the brain compensates for rapid eye movements, maintaining a stable visual perception despite dynamic visual input. Researchers found that this stability mechanism breaks down for non-rigid motion like rotating vortices.
A study found that exposing older adults to various odorants at night using an odorant diffuser improved their memory and increased activity in the uncinate fasciculus.
A comprehensive guide to brain maps compiled by a space shuttle guidance system engineer, detailing the brain's advanced circuitry and its comparisons to sophisticated technology.
The article discusses various regions of the brain, highlighting their functional roles in vision, balance, navigation, and computational processing.
- Lateral Occipital Complex (LOC):
- Role in object recognition.
- High accuracy and speed in recognizing visually presented objects.
- Cerebral Cortex:
- A 6-layer circuit board with processing power surpassing 34,500 Intel i7 quad-core processors.
- Processes live vision to extract shapes and edges.
- Forwards information to regions detecting faces, facial expressions, objects, and body parts.
- Sends data to emotional and reward centers in the orbital and prefrontal cortex.
- Vestibule:
- Similar to a 3-axis gyro and accelerometer used in military guidance and navigation systems.
- Measures linear and rotational acceleration in three dimensions.
- Provides navigational data, controls balance, stabilizes vision, and helps keep eyes on a target.
- Connected to the cerebellum and other regions for inertial navigation and movement tracking.
- Retina:
- Contains over 125 million rod photoreceptors processing motion and visual reflexes.
- More computational power than five iPhone 6 processors.
- Controls muscles directly to avoid objects and preserve life.
- Computes specific visual scene information using various ganglion cell types.
- Thalamus (Medial Dorsal Nucleus, Parvocellular Nucleus):
- Over 6.3 million different connections.
- Plays a role in visual processing and relaying sensory information to the cerebral cortex.
- Inferior Parietal Sulcus (IPS):
- Involved in complex hand use, reaching, grasping, and programming intentional hand movements.
- Matches visual and body-centered frames of reference.
- Brainstem and Cerebellum:
- Controls visual reflexes using the vestibulocerebellum.
- Inertial navigation system calculating movement through space.
- Visual Cortex:
- Sequential computations from low-level to high-level properties of visual stimuli.
- Processes shapes, edges, and global object shapes.
- Prefrontal Cortex:
- Involved in decision-making, emotional regulation, and reward processing.
- Occipital Lobe:
- Key in visual processing and recognizing objects.
The default mode network (DMN) plays a critical role in human creativity and the generation of ideas, according to recent studies. Researchers are exploring how manipulating this network can influence creativity.
A new study reveals that when engaging in complex cognitive tasks, the brain's activity becomes more detailed and streamlined, allowing for efficient processing. The findings suggest the brain adjusts its patterns of activity to match task demands.
This article argues for bridging the gap between analytic and phenomenological philosophy to gain new insights into the fundamental structure of reality. It suggests that phenomenology, with its focus on the structure of experience, can offer valuable perspectives on questions like the nature of time and quantum mechanics.
Sakana AI introduces The AI Scientist, a system enabling foundation models like LLMs to perform scientific research independently, automating the entire research lifecycle.
