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Sonic the Brain Chemical

Posted by michael on from the need-more-rings dept.

GamerBub writes "A chemical protein that appears to prevent Parkinson's Disease has been named Sonic the Hedgehog. According to the National Post."

2 of 44 comments (clear)

  1. And in other news... by Aardpig · · Score: 4, Informative

    ...Slashdot is over six years behind Google. D'oh, guys, D'OH!

    --
    Tubal-Cain smokes the white owl.
  2. Re:Why? by ag3n7 · · Score: 5, Informative

    The reason why the chemical is called Sonic Hedgehog has only a passing relation to the video game. One of the researchers was an avid video game fan and the chemical's precursors are actually: SoNiC. Hence the play on word, Sonic Hedgehog.

    Plus, it has to do with increasing the speed between synapse firings.