Editing 2732: Bursa of Fabricius

{{comic
| number    = 2732
| date      = February 1, 2023
| title     = Bursa of Fabricius
| image     = bursa_of_fabricius_2x.png
| imagesize = 298x399px
| noexpand  = true
| titletext = If an anatomical structure is named for a person, it means they were the only person to have it. Pierre Paul Broca had a special area of his brain that created powerful magnetic fields, enabling him to do 19th century fMRI research.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by FLYING BIRD SCIENTISTS WITH TRANSPLANTED AVIAN LYMPHATIC ORGANS - Better description of the two people looking at Fabricius and how they may represent his time era. More on what fMRI is and how it today may be used to study what Broca studied on dead people only. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
The {{w|Bursa of Fabricius}} is an organ found in birds that is necessary for the development of their immune systems. 

This comic claims that the 16th century anatomist {{w|Hieronymus Fabricius}} (for whom the organ was named) was able to fly because he also had that organ. However, this organ does not in fact contribute directly to flight (despite being of avian orgin). Also given that it only exist in birds, then it is doubtful that Fabricius also independently had this same anatomical feature.

But [[Randall]] asserts that, because the organ was named after Fabricius, he is the one and only human to have had this organ. And, having this avian organ, that automatically grants him the birds' ability of flight. 

In the comic, Fabricius (drawn mostly bald and with a beard) is shown swooping through the air with great enjoyment, yelling ''Wheee'' as he swoops down from the sky; this being a typical outburst made by people flying/falling and enjoying it, in Randall's work, and a humorous contrast between the childlike glee and the perhaps more traditionally elderly seriousness that a bearded and balding intellectual look would typically suggest. Two persons look up at him, from the ground. A man with some form of wide-brimmed hat and a woman with a scarf over her hair and draped down behind her, probably meant to match the styles in use when Fabricius lived in the 16th century. The woman is particularly disturbed by the flying man, holding her hands up to her mouth in a pose of being shocked/surprised by his behaviour and/or abilities.<!-- If she knew he could fly already, it's probably the childish impropriety. Either way, Fabricus is making a spectacle of himself.-->

Many scientific and mathematical discoveries, including anatomical structures, are named after the people who discovered or described them. Rare diseases are often named for the first or most famous (possibly even the only) person known to have had the disease. For instance {{w|ALS}} is commonly known as Lou Gehrig's disease in the US because of baseball player {{w|Lou Gehrig}} having notably developed the condition. Outside of the US, it may be more known just as "amyotrophic lateral sclerosis" (alternatively "motor neurone disease") or, for simplicity, the initials ALS (or MND). In other cases, a person who identifies the specifics involved either attempts to set their own name to it, for posterity, or is later honoured in this manner by those who recognise their vital contribution to the field, such as with {{w|Parkinson's disease#History|Parkinson's disease}}.

The title text continues with the idea from the comic claiming that anatomical structures solely possessed by the human for which they are named, in another similar example. {{w|Pierre Paul Broca}}, a French physician, anatomist and anthropologist, was known for his research on what is now known as {{w|Broca's area}}, a region of the brain used for speech and language processing. The premise being that, having this feature, he was uniquely gifted with the special ability to created powerful magnetic fields, enabling him to do {{w|fMRI}} research in the 19th century.

Broca did not do fMRI research, a powerful method of non-intrusively imaging and analysing the internal structures of the living human body (amongst other things), as it was not invented in his lifetime. Nor is it likely that this ability could be 'naturally' possessed by any individual, such as he. He did, however, physically study brains of known speech-impaired patients who had then subsequently died, determining what damage (in the area of the brain which was then to be named for him) was directly related to their specific group of ailments. Today, we can safely view this area in living people, using fMRI, and directly connect what we see with the current condition of patients. This increase our knowledge of the brain, as with the mythical abilities Randall gave Broca, but also possibly even allows us to help those currently under the effects of any observed damage (not necessarily possible by any 19thC physician, even with this superpowered form of vision to assist them).

In reality, if Broca was the only person to have ever possessed Broca's area then this might have meant that only he had ever had the power of speech (as we understand it), which would indeed give him a very special ability; but one begging a number of other vital questions, if only anybody else could have asked them...

His brain was preserved in a museum, inspiring Carl Sagan to make "Broca's Brain" the title of an essay, included in a book with the same title. Awareness of the essay might contribute to speculation on what unusual features that brain had.

==Transcript==
:[An almost bald man with hair around the neck and a full beard, is shown flying in the top right part of the image, swooping down from the sky with arms outstretched in front of him while yelling. Three dotted lines behind him indicate his path. Two people look up at him from the bottom left corner, a man with a wide-brimmed hat and a black haired woman with a scarf over her hair, which is hanging down behind her. She is holding both her hands up to her mouth. At the top of the panel there is text:]
:The '''''bursa of Fabricius''''' is a lymphoid organ found only in birds and in 16<sup>th</sup> century anatomist Hieronymus Fabricius, to whom it conferred the power of flight.
:Hieronymus Fabricius: ''Wheee''

{{comic discussion}}

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[[Category:Biology]]
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