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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.
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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
‘To borrow an analogy from another researcher: Mouse
