(Image source from: PIO developed New 3D software tracks embryo’s brain development})

A Person of Indian-origin (PIO) scientist has developed a new, open-source 3D software which is able to track the embryonic development and movement of neuronal cells throughout the body of the worm. This technology is now accessible to scientists.

According to Hari Shroff, head of the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB) research team “Understanding why and how neurons form and the path they take to reach their final destination could one day give us valuable information about how proteins and other molecular factors interact during neuronal development”

Shroff said, it will be useful in understanding the fundamental mechanism by which all nervous systems assemble.

“We do not yet understand neurodevelopment even in the context of the humble worm, but we’re using it as a simple model of how these factors work together to drive the development of the worm brain and neuronal structure,” said Shroff.

“We are hoping that by doing so, some of the lessons will translate all the way up to humans,” he added.

The worm is known as C elegans which has 302 neurons in which 222 form while the worm is still an embryo Although, scientists have acknowledged a number of important proteins that can determine how neurons navigate during the time of formation, but it is largely indefinite that how all of these proteins interacts in a living organism.

-Nandini