To illustrate: keeping a brain alive in a laboratory, subjecting that mind to horrifying experiments that wouldn’t even be done to animals.
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Scientists at Ohio State University say they’ve grown a almost complete human brain in a lab. They say it’s the size of a pencil eraser and has 99 percent of the genes in a fully developed fetal brain. Taking a chance with a shoestring budget compared to other researchers doing similar projects, he added stem-cell engineering to his research program. Growing the brain took 12 weeks and it is the first completely formed human brain grown in a lab using adult human skin cells.
However, as amazing-and frightening-this work is, Prof. “You need an experimental system – you need a human brain”, said Anand. That age affords a baby the ability to squirm, move its eye muscles, close it fingers, and move its toes. A biological chemistry and pharmacology professor claims to have grown a human brain in a petri dish.
The goal of the brain is to assist researchers in finding cures for numerous diseases like Alzheimer’s, and Autism. We’ve struggled for a long time trying to solve complex brain disease problems that cause tremendous pain and suffering. If licensed for commercial lab use, the organoid could speed up the research process for disorders like Alzheimer’s and autism.
“We don’t have any sensory stimuli entering the brain. This brain is not thinking in any way”.
News10 reported that one of the researchers said that the brain’s inability to think alleviates any ethical concerns.
Major scientific advances are usually published in peer-reviewed journals, where the claims are assessed independently before they are made public. These cells were then coaxed into developing the different cell types and signalling circuitry of the brain.
Anand and his team are delaying publication of the results due to a pending patent on the technique used to grow the brain.
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Anand and a colleague have co-founded an Ohio start-up company to commercialize the brain growth system, according to the university.
