psychology dector

In a living-room aquarium, in spite of its five horizontal blue stripes from head to tail, the zebrafish [ Danio rerio ], about 5 cm long, is not an exotic creature. Males have faint gold stripes between the blue, and females, silver. But these colors do not make the fish any more exciting. Although it can neither change its stripes nor work in a circus or a zoo, the zebrafish can nevertheless perform one of the most extraordinary tricks in the entire animal kingdom. If ever its spinal chord were to be broken, the zebrafish is capable of repairing the damage, almost by magic. Click here to access a Wikipedia article on this animal. The US Science magazine has just published an article [ here ] that indicates a fabulous research project that might be derived from this humble fish: namely, the possibility of finding out how to repair broken spines in humans.

A scientific report from Sydney University on the carnivorous marsupial known as the Tasmanian devil [ Sarcophilus harrisii ], found only in that Australian island state, reveals that the milk of this endangered animal contains an impressive antimicrobial arsenal. We humans possess a single variety of such a substance, whereas the charming little Tasmanian animal has six varieties. This means that its immune system is considerably more powerful than ours, and might even be used to guide future human-oriented research in this domain. If the Tasmanian devil has developed such a powerful immune system, it’s because they’ve had to learn to survive in a particularly dirty environment in which its food comprises varieties of dead animals, mammals, fish and insects. Since baby devils are born prematurely, researchers simply couldn’t imagine how they managed to survive on such nasty food… and that’s why they decided to study their milk. These days, the development of powerful bacteria capabl...