Imagine walking into your research lab and being told, today, we will be making brain cells. To the average person, the magnificent power that the human brain has is astonishing, but to a biologist, this feeling is intensified. The ability to have high-level cognitive skills such as thinking and making memories all while subconsciously breathing and making sure the heart is pumping is all thanks to your brain. So to a research assistant, the amount of doors that could open due to the success of this experiment is nothing less than thrilling.
Scientists at UCLA set out to grow these cells, beginning first with a batch of human pluripotent stem cells emerged in vitamins and amino acids and the chemical Y-27632 which prevents stem cell self-sacrifice. The broth is replaced every couple of days and after 18 days, the globs are moved into petri dishes including a fat providing supplement and high oxygen levels. After the milky-white blobs are 2-3mm wide, they are cut in half to give oxygen and nutrients to the cells inside. These newly cut clumps are put into a new broth containing growth proteins. At day 56 they are cut in half again and transferred to another petri-dish with high oxygen access to make sure it will continue to grow. These clumps are cut in half every two weeks and can survive up to 150 days.
The goal in all of this is to induce the stem-cells to arrange
themselves into organoids, which are balls of organ like tissue. They don’t
grow to entire organs, but the cellular processes that occur in early stages
can inform us a lot about human cells, information we can’t obtain from rodents
since the biology’s are different. Using these as models, we can gain insights
about diseases and eventually new drug therapies where organoids of a specific
individual can be grown into certain structures that can replace their
defective ones. Although this work is fairly new, it is gaining popularity due
to the beneficial results. Many good studies and revelations can be made with
these brain cells; however, scientists must remain humbled by the fact that the
brain is the most complicated organ, therefore we may never uncover the entire
map.
Article Referenced: https://www.sciencenews.org/article/how-build-human-brain
Posted by Kamilla Leao (2)
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ReplyDeleteI believe someday humans will map out the entire brain. Yes, there is a lot to learn, and there are many things we do not yet know but with the help of brilliant scientists and computers I believe we can do it. Growing brain cells in vitro is ust one step closer!
ReplyDelete-Brooke Sullivan
The ability to grow organiods definitely brings us one step closer to understanding the brain on a deeper level. And the opportunities for researching health and therapies is endless. Did the article mention specifically which drugs or diseases were being studied? As new as this work is, it will be very interesting to see where this research goes in the future.
ReplyDeleteHarris Jackson (1)
It really is going to open up so may doors in various fields! The article says they have been doing some testing with patients suffering from Timothy syndrome which is a rare condition of an overactive calcium channel in the brain and heart. Personalized brain organoids derived from pluripotent stem cells were made, allowing them to be studied and eventually they learned that by blocking the dysfunctional calcium channel, the problem could be reversed. The article says that this discovery could have no been brought to light by any other way. It will be very interesting to see what other discoveries are made in the future!
Delete-Kamilla Leao (2)
This experimental work is absolutely fascinating! I would be very interested to follow the progress of this group's research. While looking for this article, did you happen to find any additional articles on the same subject? I wonder if this research will eventually be able to benefit patients with Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI). It seems logical that one day, biologists might be able to help a patient with regrowing and/or repairing the part of their brain that has been injured.
ReplyDeletePosted by Natasha Dalton (1)
This is incredible! I would not have thought that this is a headline that I would see in my lifetime. As a biology/neuroscience double major, this gives me a lot of ideas about the kind of research that I want to do. I wonder if this could be used to create human tissue that is even more of a realistic model for research.
ReplyDeleteIsn't this amazing!? Researching about the brain and its amazing capacities is very intriguing for me, as I assume it is for you being a neuroscience major. I have also found this article on the use of brain organoids to further learn about neural development. Check it out, you may find it interesting as well!
Deletehttps://www.nature.com/articles/nrn.2017.107.pdf
-Kamilla Leao (2)
The brain is easily the most complicated organ in the body. This is an incredible first step into developing non-invasive ways to study live neural tissue without the use of brain surgery on a live patient, which carries many risks and limitations. Using these cultured cells, researchers can potentially develop ways to map the tissue with the goal of mapping the human brain in its full extent. This use of stem cells is another example of how their use can drive forward the understanding of the human body.
ReplyDeleteDerek Simoncelli (3)
I found this article interesting considering how the brain is one of the most complex organs in our bodies and we are getting further in understanding how to possibly treat diseases and illnesses that effect the brain. I wonder if in time, researchers will be able to grow these cells larger or have them survive longer than 150 days.
ReplyDelete-Sunaina Sharma (3)
This is extremely interesting. The idea of growing brain cells thinking back a years ago would have been unheard of. Makes you really think what is in store for the future of science.
ReplyDelete- Matt Alexander