PhD student Paola Cognigni shows us this beautiful image of a fruit fly’s brain and gut.

Paola Cognigni:

“This video shows the anatomical and functional connection between the brain and the gut in the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster. This work is carried out in Dr Irene Miguel-Aliaga's lab in the Department of Zoology as part of a research project that aims to find and explain the interactions between internal organs and their importance in growth and health.”

The brain is about 700 microns wide (the entire image is something like

1600 microns across): about the size of a pencil tip.

The image was taken in the Zoology Dept Imaging Facility on a Leica SP5 confocal system.

More info and images:

http://www.zoo.cam.ac.uk/zoostaff/miguel-aliaga/main.html

Music by Intercontinental Music Lab

http://www.intercontinentalmusiclab.com