http://www.forbes.com/David DiSalvo, Contributor
PHARMA & HEALTHCARE | 8/29/2013 @ 7:18PM
Groundbreaking brain news from a laboratory in Austria– for the first time, scientists have managed to grow miniature human brains from stem cells, reports Reuters Health. The implications of this development are massive, not the least of which is eventually understanding the inner workings of severe neurological disorders and how to defeat them.
The researchers started with human stem cells—the often-controversial, undifferentiated (or “blankâ€) human cells that are capable of giving rise to a host of differentiated cells—and cultured them into “cerebral organoids†(more simply, “mini brainsâ€). Stem cells have been used to grow a variety of organ tissue—including a liver and a trachea—but never before has brain tissue with multiple, distinct parts been created in a lab.
According to the Reuters report, Juergen Knoblish and Madeline Lancaster at Austria’s Institute of Molecular Biotechnology and fellow researchers at Britain’s Edinburgh University of Human Genetics cultured the stem cells with a cocktail of nutrients, and grew tissue called neuroectoderm – a layer of cells in the embryo from which all parts of the brain and nervous system develop.
This tissue was then placed into a spinning bioreactor that circulates oxygen and nutrients, catalyzing the eventual growth of cerebral organoids. After one month, the tissue had organized itself into basic developing brain regions, including the retina and cerebral cortex. At two months, the tiny organoids—about4 millimeters long—contained firing neurons and identifiably different types of neural tissue. In essence the scientists had created tiny, primitive human brains.
Linkback:
https://tubagbohol.mikeligalig.com/index.php?topic=75071.0
