Scientists have created a map the wiring of a fruit fly's brain in a research project called FlyWire. The map the neurons and connections is the most detailed ever produced a creature. This groundbreaking feat could revolutionize the field neuroscience and unlock secrets our own brain. Brain specialist Dr Gregory Jefferis told the BBC: "The mapping the fly brain is really remarkable and will help us get a real grasp how our own brains work." He said it could provide insights "the mechanism thought". It took scientists years to analyze the fly's pinhead-sized brain. They created a detailed diagram 139,255 neurons and 50 million connections.
The diagram the fly's brain's neural pathways looks a scientific work art. It is a stunning, colourful web of neurons. The diagram is known as a connectome. To create it, the scientists sliced the fruit fly brain 7,000 microscopic slivers. Each these was studied using an electron microscope that imaged cells that were four-millionths a millimetre wide. The researchers classified more than 8,400 different cell types. If the neural pathways were unravelled, they would stretch 150 metres. The human brain has 86 billion neurons and trillions connections. Current technology could not create a connectome our brain. That map is still decades away.
