From the moment you swallow a bite of food to the moment it exits your body. The gut is toiling to process this strange outside material. It has to break chunks down into small bits. It must distinguish healthy nutrients from toxins or pathogens and absorb only what is beneficial. And it does all this while moving the partially processed food one way through different factories of digestion — mouth. esophagus, stomach, through the intestines and out. “Digestion is required for survival,” said Marissa Scavuzzo, a postdoctoral researcher at Case Western Reserve University in Ohio.
Glia Do Everything
Scientists have known about enteric glia for over a century, but until Phone Number List recently no one had tools for studying them. Researchers could examine neurons by picking up the action potentials they fire. But compared to neurons, glial cells are electrophysiologically “boring,” said Brian Gulbransen. An associate professor of neuroscience at Michigan State University. Aside from a few reports that pointed to their roles in maintaining healthy gut tissue, they remained under-studied and underappreciated. That changed over the last decade or so. New tools that allow scientists to manipulate gene activity in glia or visualize them in different ways have “dramatically changed the way we look at the enteric nervous system,” said Keith Sharkey, a professor of physiology
A Force to Reckon With
Scavuzzo became fascinated with digestion in Business Lead childhood when she witnessed her mother’s medical troubles due to a congenitally shortened esophagus. Watching her mother go through gastrointestinal complications compelled Scavuzzo to study the gut in adulthood to find treatments for patients like her mom. “I grew up knowing and understanding this stuff is importanScavuzzo became fascinated with digestion in childhood when she witnessed her mother’s medical troubles due to a congenitally shortened esophagus. Watching her mother go through gastrointestinal complications compelled Scavuzzo. To study the gut in adulthood to find treatments for patients like her mom. “I grew up knowing and understanding this stuff is important,” she said. “The more we know, we can intervene better.” In 2019, when Scavuzzo started her postdoctoral research at Case Western under Paul Tesar, a world expert in glial biologyt,” she said. “The more we know, we can intervene better.” In 2019, when Scavuzzo started her postdoctoral research at Case Western under Paul Tesar, a world expert in glial biology