Neutron diffraction shows how myelin gets on your nerves

New research has shed light on the way in which our nerves conduct electrical signals around our bodies. The structure of myelin, the layer of insulating fat surrounding nerve cells of vertebrates, has now been analysed in detail using neutron diffraction, providing a major step forward in understanding how our body's nervous system functions. Defects in myelin structure are known to significantly impair nerve conduction, and are implicated in such incompletely understood neurological disorders