KelliH: Question regarding Enigmas...

[StatikStepz]

Kelli,
I remember a while back in a thread about Enigmas and the things associated with them, and that you said that you were going to be meeting with some professor or something at some university (i think it was, if i remember correctly) that was going to be doing some extensive studies and research on Enigmas, and that this person would be doing some scientific things on the genes/DNA of the Enigma to see if they could try and find out things like why the Enigmas sometimes "wobble" or "stargaze" or spin.... I was just wondering if this ever happened, and if so, what this person/you might have found out...??

I apologize if you have already posted about this in a thread somewhere and i missed it, but i figured with all the Enigma threads and discussions, if i did a search for it, it would just yield wayyyy to many results, lol.

 

[KelliH]

After many months of a study run by Nick Millichamp of the Texas A & M Vet School, the conclusion was, in a nutshell, the following: Biologically Enigmas are identical to non-Enigma leopard geckos. The next step would be to do some experimentation on the actual nervous system itself to see if perhaps signals are getting crossed somehow when traveling in between brain and body. We are hopeful that some inspired graduate student will pick up the study; the fact that it would be extremely expensive is prohibiting Dr. Millichamp from doing any more with that part of it.

At some point Steve and I will get "hard copies" of all the data and we will of course post it on GF.

 

[StatikStepz]

So i c! Thanks! I don't know how it popped in my head the other night, lol.

But yeah, thanks for the info!

...so ummm... any "inspired grads" out there wanna pick up this study? lolll

 

[Tony C]

Well, I have a few years to go before I can be an inspired grad student, but if nobody has picked it up by then... lol

 

[SFgeckos]

I remember you had posted some brief information about this a while back. You may have already answered this before, but did any samples ever go to a Board Certified Veterinary Pathologist? Was histopathology ever done?

Jon

 

[KelliH]

Jon, yes, and yes.

 

[SFgeckos]

Very cool!! When would you estimate you will receive those histopathology reports?

I'm mainly interested in the histopathology of the brain, I have a hypothesis in mind although it's quite a long shot...just wondering if there was any evidence of Negri bodies (also called intracytoplasmic inclusion bodies). I know sometimes they can be very difficult to detect without an electron microscope, in particular the area of the hippocampus neurons for carnivores (as opposed to Purkinje cells for herbivores). Please keep me updated!

Jon

 

[Tony C]

just wondering if there was any evidence of Negri bodies (also called intracytoplasmic inclusion bodies).

Are those similar to the inclusion bodies that cause IBD in snakes?