One of the most significant scientific achievements of this year – mapping the connections throughout the brain of a fruit fly – was made possible not only through laboratory research but also thanks to the meticulous work of Polish scientist. Among the co-authors of the study in Nature, and one of the most dedicated volunteers, is Krzysztof Kruk, an amateur scientist from Kielce.
In late September, Nature published a series of articles describing the first complete connectome – a detailed map of the neural connections – of the entire brain of a female fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster).
A Brain Mapped Out
An enormous international team, led by Sebastian Seung and Mala Murthy from Princeton, mapped around 140,000 neurons. The researchers also traced more than 50 million connections between these cells. As a result, they revealed how some of the circuits in the fruit fly’s brain operate (such as those related to vision), allowing scientists worldwide to study the functions of other neural networks.
Although the human brain has a million times more neurons than that of a fruit fly, scientists need to understand smaller nervous systems before they can fully comprehend what goes on in our minds. And the fruit fly’s brain is no small feat! After all, this insect can observe its surroundings, fly, navigate, store memories, make decisions, and engage in social interactions – all thanks to an organ less than 1 millimeter in diameter.
“This is a huge deal,” Clay Reid, a neurobiologist at the Allen Institute for Brain Science who was not involved in the project, tells Nature News’ Sara Reardon. “It’s something that the world has been anxiously waiting for, for a long time.”
The connectome, and all the data associated with it, reveals patterns of healthy brain functions and could thus also be consequential in the treatment of brain diseases. Of the 8,453 types of neurons the scientists identified, 4,581 were newly discovered. The brain map also provides insight into the neurotransmitters, such as dopamine and serotonin, secreted by the various types of neurons, per a statement.
Krzysztof Kruk made a significant contribution to this labor-intensive project as a hobbyist. Many Polish scientists would give anything to have a publication in Nature. Meanwhile, Kruk was simply doing what he enjoyed.
“I devoted entire days for months to this work, and I managed to independently identify and label almost 50,000 neurons, which accounts for over one-third of all neurons in the fruit fly’s brain,” Krzysztof Kruk recalled when asked for comment by PAP.
His dedication to the project was so exceptional that, so he was specifically mentioned by name among the authors of the Nature publication.
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