Starve a cell and it eats itself. Neurons included.
When a cell is starved it begins autophagy — literally 'self-eating' — breaking down its own components to survive, a process whose discovery won the 2016 Nobel Prize. In fasting mice it even runs in the brain's hunger neurons, and the fats released make the hunger signal stronger.
Step by step
- A starved cell starts autophagy — 'self-eating' — digesting its own parts for fuel.
- In fasting mice it runs even in hunger neurons, whose released fats crank appetite higher.
- Its discovery won the 2016 Nobel Prize. A gentle version runs in you right now.
Source
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Efficient, self-editing, self-consuming — that's the machine reading this.
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