Wrong Track

Wiring up the nervous system is a tricky job. In most animals there are long nerves running from the brain along parallel tracks down a central column and then out into various parts of the body. To make sure this works properly, a molecular ‘guide track’ is first laid down (top far left) – this one is from a fruit fly embryo seen down a microscope. Then the nerves grow along it (bottom far left). There are many different genes responsible for keeping these everything on the straight and narrow, with names such as Slit, Dscam and Robo (short for Roundabout). Changes in these genes cause alterations in the guide tracks and the growth of the nerves, as shown in the other pictures. Understanding how this process works in insects is also shedding light on the more complex wiring system at work in humans, and what happens when it goes wrong.

Written by Kat Arney

Kat Arney

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Dr Kat Arney is an award-winning science writer, broadcaster and public speaker, and is the founder and Creative Director of First Create The Media.

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• Image from work by Maryam Alavi and colleagues
• Department of Biology, University of Nevada, Reno, NV, USA
• Image originally published under a Creative Commons Licence (BY 4.0)
• Published in PLOS Biology, September 2016