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Scientists Grew A Tiny ‘Brain’ That Later Grew Its Own Pair Of Eyes
By Ell Ko, 20 Aug 2021
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Image via Elke Gabriel (CC BY-NC-SA)
A lab-grown, but non-sentient, blob of mass produced to mimic a brain has spontaneously decided to produce two light-sensitive eye-like structures.
An international team of researchers published their findings in Cell Stem Cell, detailing their study into the way the body develops, starting from the brain. The brain is particularly important for the development and adaptation that our species has gone through, and this one was built to model the way human embryos develop.
Human-induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) were key in this blob coming into existence. According to the study, the brain organoid contained an eye structure, the optic cup.
Two of these appeared as early as 30 days into the study, then matured into visible structures within the next 20 days. At two months, full optic vesicles, the brain-linked foundation of the eye, had formed. This is roughly the same schedule embryos run on, too.
Image via Gabriel et al. / Cell Stem Cell (CC BY-NC-SA)
Four iPSC donors provided 16 batches of iPSC, and the researchers were able to create 314 brain organoids from them. Over 70% of the organoids formed optic cups, indicating that it was no coincidence.
“Our work highlights the remarkable ability of brain organoids to generate primitive sensory structures that are light sensitive and harbor cell types similar to those found in the body,” states senior study author Jay Gopalakrishnan in a press release.
Although it might seem eerie that the organoid sprouted its own structures out of the blue, it can be rest assured that it won’t gain consciousness. This is detailed in a study published late last year, which shows that organoids can’t gain consciousness as they don’t have a prefrontal cortex, and therefore can’t receive input.
The organoids’ purposes include assisting the study of brain-eye interactions during embryo development and generating specific retinal cell types to suit patients undergoing personalized therapies, among others.
Future studies for the team involve investigating ways to keep the optic cups viable across a long period, then using them to investigate retinal disorders.
[via Gizmodo, images via Elke Gabriel et al. / Cell Stem Cell]
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