The culture of embryonic stem cells has again given birth to another great scientific advance: the creation of the first laboratory brain . Just 4 millimeters in diameter but fully functional, the mini-brains have been created by the Institute for Molecular Biotechnology in Vienna (Austria) and lay the foundations for the development of new, less invasive and more ethical brain exploration techniques.
The Austrian researchers achieved the development of brain tissue by simulating the physiological conditions of the maternal uterus in a bi-reactor. The cultured cells clumped together in a few months in the same way that cells do during the gestation of the embryo. The small autonomous brains showed development of the neuronal layers of the cerebral cortex and hippocampus equivalent to that of the brain of a nine-week fetus.
The functionality of minibrains was proven by these scientists by developing brains with pathologies in parallel . The healthy stem cells were replaced in the culture by cells from a patient with microcephaly (brain that was smaller than normal), which caused abnormal development of the organ. Brains have survived for a year but have not undergone any development in that time. Scientists attribute it to the lack of a circulatory system to nourish the organ.
This pioneering brain engineering could shed new light on the workings of the most complex element in the human anatomy and the trigger for a multitude of diseases.
