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The Amazon is the largest and most diverse tropical rainforest in the world. It represents over half of the world’s remaining rainforests, but deforestation threatens its viability.  Already as much as 20% of the rainforest has been destroyed.

The destruction of the rainforests matters because it has real impacts on people’s lives and wellbeing. Deforestation harms the Amazon’s indigenous communities and the growing numbers of relocated landless farmers. Multinational corporations violently attack and murder indigenous people to seize and then destroy their lands. Meanwhile, large landowners violently force many small farmers from their productive lands into the rainforest, where they face new terror from the multinationals.

Earlier this year, Brazilian officials were lauding decreases in destruction of the rainforest. In August 2007, President Lula announced a great victory: the rate of deforestation was at its lowest in 15 years:

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Biologists at Queen’s University have found a connection between a specific nerve receptor (npr-9) and obesity. The team studied nematodes (Caenorhabditis elegans) that have neurotransmitters similar to those of humans. Per their report, NPR-9 is “most similar to insect allatostatin/mammalian galanin receptors.”

Caenorhabditis elegans

These receptors are paired with AIB interneurons, which are associated with local search and pivoting behavior–focusing on local food and not moving in search of food. When the receptors are over-expressed, AIB associated behaviors are suppressed and the nematodes have less local searching/pivoting behavior; when it’s under-expressed, the behaviors are seen more frequently–so the nematodes stay near a local food supply.

Local foraging/pivoting behavior is an energy conserving strategy when food is readily available. The organisms move less, burn less energy.

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