Brain cell insulators are short-timers

Limited myelin production time may make it harder to repair nerve casings damaged by multiple sclerosis

SHORT-TIMER CELLS Cells called oligodendrocytes (shown in green) only spend five hours insulating nerve fibers (purple) with a waxy coating of myelin in the zebrafish central nervous system.

T. Czopka et al/Developmental Cell 2013

Cells that sheathe the brain’s electrical wires in a protective coating called myelin have a brief career, a new study of zebrafish finds.