Zika virus (light blue) spreads through a three-dimensional model of a developing brain. Image courtesy of Max Salick and Nathaniel Kirkpatrick/Novartis

The fast-spreading virus can take multiple routes into developing human nerve cells.

Researchers uncover diverse subtypes of serotonin-producing neurons

By Stephanie Dutchen, HMS Writer/Editor

It used to be enough to call a serotonergic neuron a serotonergic neuron.

These brain cells make the neurotransmitter serotonin, which helps regulate mood, appetite, breathing rate, body temperature and more.

Recently, however, scientists have begun to learn that these neurons differ from one another—and that the differences likely matter in dysfunction and disease.

Turning skin cells into pain-sensing neurons

Human noxious stimulus detecting sensory neurons produced by converting skin cells with a set of five genes to this new fate—enabling study of "pain"in a dish. (Credit: Elizabeth Buttermore, PhD)

After more than

This story, written by Peter Reuell, was originally posted by the Harvard Gazette. Photo of Adam Cohen, PhD, in the lab by Martha Stewart.