Latest news with #InstituteofExperimentalMedicine
The Hindu
10-08-2025
- Health
- The Hindu
Pavlov's Nobel Prize-winning research on digestion and its lasting impact on physiology and neurobiology
In 1904, Russian physiologist Ivan Petrovich Pavlov was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 'in recognition of his work on the physiology of digestion, through which knowledge on vital aspects of the subject has been transformed and enlarged.' His experiments led to our understanding of how the digestive system works but also laid the conceptual foundations for one of the most influential ideas in behavioural science : the conditioned reflex. Early life and scientific beginnings Pavlov was born on September 14, 1849, in Ryazan, Russia, the eldest of ten children in the household of a village priest. Initially destined for the priesthood, he enrolled in a local theological seminary. His path changed after encountering the writings of physiologist Ivan Sechenov and naturalist, geologist -- Charles Darwin, which inspired him to pursue science. Leaving the seminary, Pavlov entered the University of Saint Petersburg in 1870 to study natural sciences, later earning a medical degree from the Imperial Military Medical Academy. After postgraduate training in Germany under prominent physiologists such as Carl Ludwig, Pavlov returned to Russia in the 1880s. By the 1890s, he was head of the Department of Physiology at the Institute of Experimental Medicine in St. Petersburg, where he began the series of experiments that would define his career. Transforming the understanding of digestion At the time, knowledge of digestion was largely based on post-mortem studies and crude animal experiments. Pavlov developed ingenious surgical methods to study the digestive organs of living animals without disrupting their normal functions. One of his key innovations was the creation of the 'Pavlov pouch' -- a small, surgically isolated section of the stomach with its own nerve and blood supply. This technique enabled continuous monitoring of gastric secretions over time. Pavlov's long-term, carefully controlled experiments revealed that the digestive process was not merely a simple chemical breakdown of food but was under intricate regulation by the nervous system. He discovered that gastric secretions could be triggered not just by food in the stomach but by stimuli such as the sight, smell, or even the sound associated with feeding. These 'psychic secretions' were evidence of a direct connection between sensory input and physiological processes. Research details and wider significance Pavlov's experimental approach was notable for its rigour, precision and reproducibility. His work bridged two worlds: the purely physical processes of the body and the influence of the mind on those processes. In studying digestive reflexes, Pavlov accidentally uncovered phenomena that would make him famous beyond physiology: the concept of the conditional (later called 'conditioned') reflex. Although not the focus of his Nobel-winning work, these observations such as a dog salivating to a metronome after repeated pairings with food, demonstrated that behaviour could be shaped by learned associations. Pavlov shared his findings widely, most notably in his 1897 work The Work of the Digestive Glands --that summarised years of findings and demonstrated how salivary and gastric glands were activated and coordinated, fundamentally reshaping physiological theory . The text laid out the experimental evidence that transformed understanding of gastrointestinal physiology. Later, in Conditioned Reflexes (1927), he detailed decades of experiments on associative learning, establishing a theoretical foundation for behaviourism. In Conditioned Reflexes and Psychiatry, he explored how his principles could be applied to understanding mental illness, famously writing, 'I am convinced that an important stage of human thought will have been reached when the physiological and the psychological, the objective and the subjective, are actually united' Beyond these, Pavlov published extensive lecture series and numerous scientific papers, many of which were later compiled into multi-volume works that continue to serve as primary references for physiologists and psychologists. Additionally, these findings later inspired entire schools of psychology, most notably behaviourism and influenced fields as varied as neuroscience, psychiatry, education and even marketing. Legacy and impact today Pavlov remained active in research for decades after receiving the Nobel Prize, expanding his studies of conditioned reflexes and their role in mental health and neurological disorders. He became a respected figure not only in Russian science but also on the international stage, known for his disciplined work ethic and methodical approach. In modern medicine, Pavlov's work remains relevant in multiple ways. His methods for studying organ function have influenced experimental design across physiology and biomedical research. His discovery of conditioned reflexes underpins behavioural therapy techniques used in treating phobias, anxiety disorders, and addictions. Concepts from his digestion research are still taught in medical curricula worldwide. Pavlov died on February 27, 1936, at the age of 86. His laboratory in St. Petersburg has been preserved as a museum, and his name has become shorthand for associative learning -- 'Pavlovian conditioning' is a term recognised far beyond scientific circles. The precision and vision of his Nobel-winning work continue to remind us that even the most fundamental bodily functions can yield profound insights into both the body and the mind.
Khaleej Times
09-04-2025
- Science
- Khaleej Times
Yana, a 130,000-year-old baby mammoth, goes under the scalpel
Making incisions and carefully taking samples, the scientists at a laboratory in Russia's far east looked like pathologists carrying out a post-mortem. But the body they were dissecting is a baby mammoth who died around 130,000 years ago. Discovered last year, the calf — nicknamed Yana, for the river basin where she was found — is in a remarkable state of preservation, giving scientists a glimpse into the past and, potentially, the future as climate change thaws the permafrost in which she was found. Yana's skin has kept its greyish-brown colour and clumps of reddish hairs. Her wrinkled trunk is curved and points to her mouth. The orbits of her eyes are perfectly recognisable and her sturdy legs resemble those of a modern-day elephant. This necropsy — an autopsy on an animal — "is an opportunity to look into the past of our planet", said Artemy Goncharov, head of the Laboratory of Functional Genomics and Proteomics of Microorganisms at the Institute of Experimental Medicine in Saint Petersburg. Scientists hope to find unique ancient bacteria and carry out genetic analysis of the plants and spores Yana ate to learn more about the place and time she lived. The calf largely avoided the ravages of time because she lay for thousands of years encased in permafrost in the Sakha region in Siberia. Measuring 1.2 metres (nearly four feet) at the shoulder and two metres long, and weighing 180 kilogrammes (nearly 400 pounds), Yana could be the best-preserved mammoth specimen ever found, retaining internal organs and soft tissues, the Russian scientists said. - Stomach, intestines - Dissecting her body is a treasure trove for the half dozen scientists that were carrying out the necropsy in late March at the Mammoth Museum at North-Eastern Federal University in the regional capital, Yakutsk. Wearing white sterile bodysuits, goggles and facemasks, the zoologists and biologists spent several hours working on the front quarters of the mammoth, a species that died out almost 4,000 years ago. "We can see that many organs and tissues are very well preserved," Goncharov said. "The digestive tract is partly preserved, the stomach is preserved. There are still fragments of the intestines, in particular the colon," enabling scientists to take samples, he said. They are "searching for ancient microorganisms" preserved inside the mammoth, so they can study their "evolutionary relationship with modern microorganisms", he said. While one scientist cut Yana's skin with scissors, another made an incision in the inner wall with a scalpel. They then placed tissue samples in test tubes and bags for analysis. Another table held the mammoth's hindquarters, which remained embedded in a cliff when the front quarters fell below. The scent emanating from the mammoth was reminiscent of a mixture of fermented earth and flesh, macerated in the Siberian subsoil. "We are trying to reach the genitals," said Artyom Nedoluzhko, director of the Paleogenomics Laboratory of the European University at Saint Petersburg. "Using special tools, we want to go into her vagina in order to gather material to understand what microbiota lived in her when she was alive." - 'Milk tusks' - Yana was first estimated to have died around 50,000 years ago, but is now dated at "more than 130,000 years" following analysis of the permafrost layer where she lay, said Maxim Cheprasov, director of the Mammoth Museum. As for her age at death, "it's already clear that she is over a year old because her milk tusks have already appeared," he added. Both elephants and mammoths have early milk tusks that later fall out. Scientists are yet to determine why Yana died so young. At the time when this herbivore mammal was chewing grass, "here on the territory of Yakutia there were not yet any humans", Cheprasov said, since they appeared in modern-day Siberia between 28,000 and 32,000 years ago. The secret to Yana's exceptional preservation lies in the permafrost: the soil in this region of Siberia that is frozen year-round and acts like a gigantic freezer, preserving the carcasses of prehistoric animals. The discovery of Yana's exposed body came about because of thawing permafrost, which scientists believe is due to global warming. The study of the microbiology of such ancient remains also explores the "biological risks" of global warming, Goncharov said. Some scientists are researching whether the melting permafrost could release potentially harmful pathogens, he explained. "There are some hypotheses or conjectures that in the permafrost there could be preserved pathogenic microorganisms, which when it thaws can get into the water, plants and the bodies of animals -- and humans," he said. gde/bur/am/cad/jhb/fg © Agence France-Presse
Yahoo
07-04-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Dissected mammoth calf smells like ‘fermented earth and flesh'
A woolly mammoth calf discovered in 2024 underwent its first detailed postmortem analysis by researchers from Russia's Institute of Experimental Medicine in Saint Petersburg. After spending around 130,000 years buried in Siberian permafrost, Yana (named after the river basin in which she was found) is one of the most well-preserved mammoth specimens ever found. The opportunity to conduct a necropsy on Yana will likely yield a trove of new information about the species and its Late Pleistocene environment. That said, spending hours up-close-and-personal with a nearly 400-pound thawing carcass may not have been the most enjoyable experience. According to the Agence France-Presse (AFP), Yana's examiners described the roughly four-foot-tall calf as smelling like a 'mixture of fermented earth and flesh' after spending tens of thousands of years 'macerated in the Siberian subsoil.' The findings are already proving to be worth any unpleasantness. Over multiple hours, experts wearing sterile bodysuits, facemasks, and goggles made incisions into Yana's front quarters using scalpels, surgical scissors, and other medical tools. The permafrost's freezerlike conditions allowed the mammoth to retain much of its gray-brown skin, and even patches of reddish hair. In addition to removing exterior samples, the team of biologists and zoologists collected portions of Yana's digestive tract, including her stomach and colon. Researchers are particularly interested in the contents of the colon, which could include ancient microorganisms that improve our understanding of the evolutionary trajectory to their modern descendants. Further examinations may also reveal the microbiotic environment inside Yana while she was alive. The young mammoth's mouth also helped better pinpoint her age at the time of death. The discovery of milk tusks—akin to human baby teeth—proved Yana was at least a year old when she died, but not old enough for them to have already fallen out. And while her cause of death remains a mystery, one culprit can be crossed off the list of suspects: humans. 'Here on the territory of Yakutia there were not yet any humans,' Mammoth Museum director Maxim Cheprasov explained to the AFP, adding that they didn't arrive in the area until 28,000–32,000 years ago. Although humans weren't responsible for Yana's death, they are almost certainly behind the circumstances that led to her discovery. After remaining frozen for 130,000 years, warming global temperatures are causing permafrosts to thaw and reveal their long-hidden contents. While specimens like Yana offer valuable new insights, there are potential dangers to these opportunities. Some experts have expressed worries that melting permafrost may release hibernating pathogenic microorganisms into a world that isn't equipped to handle or resist them.
Al-Ahram Weekly
04-04-2025
- Science
- Al-Ahram Weekly
Yana, a 130,000-year-old baby mammoth, goes under the scalpel - Health - Life & Style
Making incisions and carefully taking samples, the scientists at a laboratory in Russia's far east looked like pathologists carrying out a post-mortem. But the body they were dissecting is a baby mammoth who died around 130,000 years ago. Discovered last year, the calf -- nicknamed Yana, for the river basin where she was found -- is in a remarkable state of preservation, giving scientists a glimpse into the past and, potentially, the future as climate change thaws the permafrost in which she was found. Yana's skin has kept its greyish-brown colour and clumps of reddish hairs. Her wrinkled trunk is curved and points to her mouth. The orbits of her eyes are perfectly recognisable and her sturdy legs resemble those of a modern-day elephant. This necropsy -- an autopsy on an animal -- "is an opportunity to look into the past of our planet", said Artemy Goncharov, head of the Laboratory of Functional Genomics and Proteomics of Microorganisms at the Institute of Experimental Medicine in Saint Petersburg. Scientists hope to find unique ancient bacteria and carry out genetic analysis of the plants and spores Yana ate to learn more about the place and time she lived. The calf largely avoided the ravages of time because she lay for thousands of years encased in permafrost in the Sakha region in Siberia. Measuring 1.2 metres (nearly four feet) at the shoulder and two metres long, and weighing 180 kilogrammes (nearly 400 pounds), Yana could be the best-preserved mammoth specimen ever found, retaining internal organs and soft tissues, the Russian scientists said. - Stomach, intestines - Dissecting her body is a treasure trove for the half-dozen scientists that were carrying out the necropsy in late March at the Mammoth Museum at North-Eastern Federal University in the regional capital, Yakutsk. Wearing white sterile bodysuits, goggles and facemasks, the zoologists and biologists spent several hours working on the front quarters of the mammoth, a species that died out almost 4,000 years ago. "We can see that many organs and tissues are very well preserved," Goncharov said. "The digestive tract is partly preserved, the stomach is preserved. There are still fragments of the intestines, in particular the colon," enabling scientists to take samples, he said. They are "searching for ancient microorganisms" preserved inside the mammoth, so they can study their "evolutionary relationship with modern microorganisms," he said. While one scientist cut Yana's skin with scissors, another made an incision in the inner wall with a scalpel. They then placed tissue samples in test tubes and bags for analysis. Another table held the mammoth's hindquarters, which remained embedded in a cliff when the front quarters fell below. The scent emanating from the mammoth was reminiscent of a mixture of fermented earth and flesh, macerated in the Siberian subsoil. "We are trying to reach the genitals," said Artyom Nedoluzhko, director of the Paleogenomics Laboratory of the European University at Saint Petersburg. "Using special tools, we want to go into her vagina in order to gather material to understand what microbiota lived in her when she was alive." - 'Milk tusks' - Yana was first estimated to have died around 50,000 years ago, but is now dated at "more than 130,000 years" following analysis of the permafrost layer where she lay, said Maxim Cheprasov, director of the Mammoth Museum. As for her age at death, "it's already clear that she is over a year old because her milk tusks have already appeared," he added. Both elephants and mammoths have early milk tusks that later fall out. Scientists are yet to determine why Yana died so young. At the time when this herbivore mammal was chewing grass, "here on the territory of Yakutia there were not yet any humans", Cheprasov said, since they appeared in modern-day Siberia between 28,000 and 32,000 years ago. The secret to Yana's exceptional preservation lies in the permafrost: the soil in this region of Siberia that is frozen year-round and acts like a gigantic freezer, preserving the carcasses of prehistoric animals. The discovery of Yana's exposed body came about because of thawing permafrost, which scientists believe is due to global warming. The study of the microbiology of such ancient remains also explores the "biological risks" of global warming, Goncharov said. Some scientists are researching whether the melting permafrost could release potentially harmful pathogens, he explained. "There are some hypotheses or conjectures that in the permafrost there could be preserved pathogenic microorganisms, which when it thaws can get into the water, plants and the bodies of animals -- and humans," he said. Follow us on: Facebook Instagram Whatsapp Short link:
Yahoo
04-04-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Yana, a 130,000-year-old baby mammoth, goes under the scalpel
Making incisions and carefully taking samples, the scientists at a laboratory in Russia's far east looked like pathologists carrying out a post-mortem. But the body they were dissecting is a baby mammoth who died around 130,000 years ago. Discovered last year, the calf -- nicknamed Yana, for the river basin where she was found -- is in a remarkable state of preservation, giving scientists a glimpse into the past and, potentially, the future as climate change thaws the permafrost in which she was found. Yana's skin has kept its greyish-brown colour and clumps of reddish hairs. Her wrinkled trunk is curved and points to her mouth. The orbits of her eyes are perfectly recognisable and her sturdy legs resemble those of a modern-day elephant. This necropsy -- an autopsy on an animal -- "is an opportunity to look into the past of our planet", said Artemy Goncharov, head of the Laboratory of Functional Genomics and Proteomics of Microorganisms at the Institute of Experimental Medicine in Saint Petersburg. Scientists hope to find unique ancient bacteria and carry out genetic analysis of the plants and spores Yana ate to learn more about the place and time she lived. The calf largely avoided the ravages of time because she lay for thousands of years encased in permafrost in the Sakha region in Siberia. Measuring 1.2 metres (nearly four feet) at the shoulder and two metres long, and weighing 180 kilogrammes (nearly 400 pounds), Yana could be the best-preserved mammoth specimen ever found, retaining internal organs and soft tissues, the Russian scientists said. - Stomach, intestines - Dissecting her body is a treasure trove for the half-dozen scientists that were carrying out the necropsy in late March at the Mammoth Museum at North-Eastern Federal University in the regional capital, Yakutsk. Wearing white sterile bodysuits, goggles and facemasks, the zoologists and biologists spent several hours working on the front quarters of the mammoth, a species that died out almost 4,000 years ago. "We can see that many organs and tissues are very well preserved," Goncharov said. "The digestive tract is partly preserved, the stomach is preserved. There are still fragments of the intestines, in particular the colon," enabling scientists to take samples, he said. They are "searching for ancient microorganisms" preserved inside the mammoth, so they can study their "evolutionary relationship with modern microorganisms," he said. While one scientist cut Yana's skin with scissors, another made an incision in the inner wall with a scalpel. They then placed tissue samples in test tubes and bags for analysis. Another table held the mammoth's hindquarters, which remained embedded in a cliff when the front quarters fell below. The scent emanating from the mammoth was reminiscent of a mixture of fermented earth and flesh, macerated in the Siberian subsoil. "We are trying to reach the genitals," said Artyom Nedoluzhko, director of the Paleogenomics Laboratory of the European University at Saint Petersburg. "Using special tools, we want to go into her vagina in order to gather material to understand what microbiota lived in her when she was alive." - 'Milk tusks' - Yana was first estimated to have died around 50,000 years ago, but is now dated at "more than 130,000 years" following analysis of the permafrost layer where she lay, said Maxim Cheprasov, director of the Mammoth Museum. As for her age at death, "it's already clear that she is over a year old because her milk tusks have already appeared," he added. Both elephants and mammoths have early milk tusks that later fall out. Scientists are yet to determine why Yana died so young. At the time when this herbivore mammal was chewing grass, "here on the territory of Yakutia there were not yet any humans", Cheprasov said, since they appeared in modern-day Siberia between 28,000 and 32,000 years ago. The secret to Yana's exceptional preservation lies in the permafrost: the soil in this region of Siberia that is frozen year-round and acts like a gigantic freezer, preserving the carcasses of prehistoric animals. The discovery of Yana's exposed body came about because of thawing permafrost, which scientists believe is due to global warming. The study of the microbiology of such ancient remains also explores the "biological risks" of global warming, Goncharov said. Some scientists are researching whether the melting permafrost could release potentially harmful pathogens, he explained. "There are some hypotheses or conjectures that in the permafrost there could be preserved pathogenic microorganisms, which when it thaws can get into the water, plants and the bodies of animals -- and humans," he said. gde/bur/am/cad/jhb
