A one-centimeter slice of a human brain was kept alive in a petri dish for the first time, in a breakthrough study that will help find new drugs and treatments for fatal diseases.
Led by Emma Louise Louth with the University of Copenhagen, a group of scientists extracted a piece of brain tissue from a patient’s cortex and quickly began a new process to ensure it survived.
The team first cooled down the tissue, keeping it oxygenated so cells stayed alive, and then placed the small piece in a mixture ions and minerals – the same ingredients found in cerebral spinal fluid.
Louth shared in a press release that she and her team were able to keep the brain tissue alive for 12 hours, allowing for studies and experiments to be conducted that have only been possible with animals.
Scroll down to view video
In a groundbreaking study, a one-centimeter piece of human brain was preserved in a petri dish. This allowed for the discovery of new treatments and drugs for deadly diseases.
‘To borrow an analogy from another researcher: Mouse studies versus human studies are basically like looking at a Nokia 3310 when trying to repair an iPhone,’ Louth said in a statement.
‘They have the same basic functions – but there is much greater complexity in the human brain.
‘We even know that there are differences in the types of cells and the expression of certain receptors. Therefore, being able to test directly in human tissue is a unique opportunity.’
One study looked at dopamine-enhanced neuronal connections in humans and mice. This revealed that the neurotransmitter reward enhances neural connectivity in the human brain.
The team first cooled down the tissue, keeping it oxygenated so cells stayed alive, and then placed the small piece in a mixture ions and minerals – the same ingredients found in cerebral spinal fluid
Louth says this information could help to identify new treatments, like rehabilitation following a stroke, or any other type of acute brain injury, in which patients have lost synaptic connections and must create them again.
“We’ve been given the opportunity to show that dopamine plays a different role in humans and mice,’ said Louth.
‘This is a really good example of how the effect of a drug or a neurotransmitter varies between species, and it highlights the importance of being able to test drugs directly on human tissue.
Louth insists on the fact that living brain tissue is not cut and diced.
“Every emotion or thought must go through many parts of the brain,’ she said.
‘The piece we work on is the size of the outermost part of your thumb, and it’s no longer connected to other areas of the brain. I understand why people wonder whether the neurons in the petri dish have a memory, but it’s simply not possible.”
Researchers are currently developing a way to keep small brain slices alive up to ten more days.