Monday, September 23, 2013

Building An Almost-Brain - Cells in the Lab Weave Themselves into Tiny, Brainlike Structures



Not a squid. This lab-grown tissue has brainlike structures, including neurons (in green) and the stem cells that will make more neurons (here appearing red and purple). 
Credit: Madeline A. Lancaster

1 comment:

Shirell said...

This article was extremely fascinating. I loved how it talked about the cells that they had taken and developed into neurons. I found it crazy that those neurons were then able to organize themselves into brain structures such as the hippocampus and cerebral cortex! I also liked learning about how they had taken the embryonic cells and put them in a solution that caused them to grow, leading to a reproduction of more cells that eventually formed into a tissue. After just 2 months this tissue expanded to about 4 millimeters! Overall, I found it interesting that this is now available for testing new drugs without putting a human in harms way.