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Tadpoles without the ability to breathe were kept alive in a new breakthrough experiment that could potentially save lives of stroke patients when oxygen to their brain is cut off. WHY DID THEY NOT HAVE THE ABILITY TO BREATHE INITIALLY?
Biologists at Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich injected algae into the tadpole's heart, which provided enough oxygen for the tailed amphibian larva to effectively rescue neurons in its oxygen-deprived brain.
With each heartbeat, the algae moved through the blood vessels to the brain, turning the translucent tadpole bright green.
Scientists then shined light on the tadpoles, prompting the algae to pump out oxygen to nearby cells, similar to the process of photosynthesis.
Senior author Hans Straka of Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich said in a statement: 'The algae actually produced so much oxygen that they could bring the nerve cells back to life, if you will.
'For many people, it sounds like science fiction, but after all, it's just the right combination of biological schemes and biological principles.'
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Tadpoles without the ability to breathe were kept alive in a new breakthrough experiment that could save lives of stroke patients when oxygen to their brain is cut off
To truly test the breakthrough, scientists injected another group
