Serotonin makes locusts go Biblical

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	Serotonin makes locusts go Biblical

leike

1-31-2009 4:30 PM

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<div style="margin: 12px 0px; font-family: arial; color: #333333; background: #ffffff; border: solid 4px #e5e5e5; width: 100%; clear: left;"><div class="CM_CTB_Content_Wrap" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;background-color: #ffffff;"><div style="border-bottom: solid 1px #dcdcdc; white-space: nowrap; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: #eeeeee ;background-image: url(http://clipmarks.com/images/source-bg.gif); background-repeat: repeat-x; height: 24px; line-height: 24px; vertical-align: middle; padding-bottom: 4px; color: #666666; font-size: 10px;" ><a href="http://clipmarks.com/clip-to-blog/" title="see clips that are hot right now"><img src="http://content.clipmarks.com/blog_embed/9b737e6c-74af-4c8f-b93c-5d92a103578b/F8631F8B-7E1E-4734-B2CA-87C902908ACE/" alt="" width="19" height="19" border="0" style="vertical-align: middle; margin: 0px 4px; display: inline; border: none; float:none;" /></a>clipped from <a title="http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=when-grasshoppers-go-bibl" href="http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=when-grasshoppers-go-bibl" style="font-size: 11px;">www.sciam.com</a></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=when-grasshoppers-go-bibl"><div align="center"><img src="http://content7.clipmarks.com/blog_cache/www.sciam.com/img/7934B397-C4DB-4AF1-BFED-D8D3910D7BD5" alt="" /></div></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=when-grasshoppers-go-bibl"><P class="caption" id="articleImgCap"><STRONG>GREEN TO BROWN:</STRONG> Researchers were able to trigger the change in desert locusts—from solitary [<I>right</I>] to swarming [<I>left</I>]—just by increasing the insects' level of serotonin. <BR /><SPAN>Tom Fayle (Cambridge University)</SPAN></P></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=when-grasshoppers-go-bibl"><DIV>What makes harmless little green grasshoppers turn into brown, crop-chomping clouds of <A href="http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=how-locust-loners-form-a">swarming locusts</A>? Serotonin, according to a study published this week in <EM>Science</EM>. Researchers from universities in the UK and Australia found that that neurotransmitter (a chemical compound that sends impulses between nerve cells and affects everything from <A href="http://www.sciam.com/podcast/episode.cfm?id=68FC98F1-E48A-251D-8F65277181DB9A4E">sleep to aggression in humans</A>) spurs a cascade of Dr. Jekyll-to-Mr. Hyde–like changes in at least one species of grasshopper — the desert locust (<EM>Schistocerca gregaria</EM>). This species is infamous for wreaking havoc from Africa to Asia. </DIV>
</blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=when-grasshoppers-go-bibl"><DIV>
Knowing what causes this swift metamorphosis may help governments and farmers develop methods to control future locust outbreaks with chemicals that would suppress the offending serotonin. </DIV></blockquote></div><div style="margin: 0px 6px 6px 4px;"><table style="font-size: 11px;border-spacing: 0px;padding: 0px;" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"><tr><td style="background:transparent;border-width:0px;padding:0px;">&nbsp;</td><td align="right" style="background:transparent;border-width:0px;padding:0px;width:107px" width="107"><a href="http://clipmarks.com/share/F8631F8B-7E1E-4734-B2CA-87C902908ACE/blog/" title="blog or email this clip"><img src="http://content8.clipmarks.com/images/c2b-foot.png" border="0" alt="blog it" width="107" height="17" style="border-width:0px;padding:0px;margin:0px;" /></a></td></tr></table></div></div>

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