Creation Moment 2/25/2022 - Simple yet Elegant

God saw that it was good...Genesis 1:25

"Graduate student Shiuan-Tze Wu led a study of some ingenious

organization into the odor-sensing cells of fruit flies. He and his collaborators found that the odor-detector cells in the insects’ antennae talk to one another in a way that saves brainpower. It’s all so impressive that the senior author of the report called it “simple yet elegant,” according to the UC San Diego News Center.
 

They ran a series of tests on the cells, each called an olfactory receptor neuron (ORN). The cells partner up into sets called sensilla—mostly in pairs, but sometimes in groups of up to four cells.

Their results showed that one neuron in the set stimulates a particular behavior, while its partner neuron inhibits that same behavior. Example fruit fly behaviors include attraction to vinegar or promotion of egg-laying. The PNAS study authors wrote, “A striking pattern emerged…ORNs housed in the same sensillum antagonistically regulate the same behavior.”

--The team built an olfactory map that identifies exactly which receptor pairs detect and process specific odors.  

--Researchers refer to the electrochemical interaction between these cells as valence opponency. 

--These interactions enable ORNs to do two things at once: They detect odors and regulate their own signals. 

 

Q: How do they do it?
A: Electrochemicals dance across the tiny space between neurons in a sensillum. Together, these diminutive detectors quickly calculate the proper amount and preferred effect of each odor before they send a “do” or “don’t” message. This saves the fly brain’s computing power which might otherwise get overwhelmed with a barrage of confusing scents.

Nature is as poor a substitute for a Creator as a puddle of pigment is for a painter. An unbiased view clears the way to attribute the “marvel” of these “simple yet elegant” dual-function fruit fly nerve cells to the work of a Person with the power to choose." ICR