Human brain cells can live for up to a thousand years if adequate nutrition and oxygen support are provided. However, such a situation is impossible in nature. This was told socialbites.ca by the Director of the PIMU Institute of Basic Medicine, Professor of the Department of Neurotechnologies at UNN. NI Lobachevsky Irina Mukhina.
However, they often conduct experiments in laboratories on the brain cells of mice, whose lifespan is about 2 years. Since any process in the body of mice proceeds faster than in humans, they are more suitable for experiments.
“In laboratories that study neural networks in cultures, nerve cells (mice) live on chips for an average of 2-3 months. But these are problems of the brain, not of its nutrition,” he explained.
So far, equipment that can support the lifespan of neurons for more than two years has not been created. However, there are neural tissues – “long-lived”. One of the Neurotechnology Department’s “perennials” was the tissue of the human brain, which scientists named Alexander Gennadievich. It developed for 9 months, but then the experiment had to be stopped.
“We generated a tissue containing not only neurons, but also gliocytes (helper cells of brain tissue) as in the native brain. Glyocytes are constantly dividing, it is very difficult to control them. As a result of the growth of cells that isolate the current conduction, we were not able to record the neuron signals with the electrodes, and therefore we could not conclude that the tissue works, lives, responds. In addition, as a result of the growth of glia, our “Alexander Gennadievich” separated from the substrate and, floating like a pancake, ceased to stand on the electrodes. The experiment was stopped, ”said Mukhina.
Learn more about what tasks you can use the brain for “in vitro” and whether it can think. material “socialbites.ca”.