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For the first time , scientists have generated functional human brain tissue using a 3D printer .
Scientists printed the tissue paper to be less than 0.01 in ( 0.02 centimeter ) duncish , and it contains bothnerve cellsand bear out cells calledglia . All of these cells can communicate with one another and form connection , as they would in a realhuman mental capacity .
A 3D reconstructed view of the printed brain tissue under the microscope, showing the different layers of cells in red and green
The tissue was create using a biological " printing machine " that churned out shank - cell - laden gel in horizontal layers . The stem cells were then coaxed to become brain cellphone with chemicals that have this development . The tissue paper layer were carefully stacked , one by one , on a lab knockout to form a gross tissue model .
The researcher behind the printed tissue described their accomplishment in a paper issue Feb. 1 in the journalCell Stem Cell . They hope it will complement other models of the human brain — such models , craft from literal human cells , more accurately represent the intricate and unparalleled features of the human brain thantraditional creature modelsdo . These let in so - calledbrain - on - a - chip technologies , which mime brain tissue on credit - poster - sized devices , andcerebral organoids , which are miniature , simplified models of brains that ego - assemble in stunner .
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However , unlike organoids , the impression technique gives scientist more control over which cells stop up where in the final tissue . Nerves within the printed tissue also form connections with each other within two to five workweek — a process that can take many calendar month in organoids , Dr. Su - Chun Zhang , co - older survey generator and a professor of neuroscience and neurology at the University of Wisconsin - Madison , told Live Science in an email .
Thanks to this swiftness , different versions of the three-D - print mentality tissue paper can also be made much more easily than organoids , Zhang said . This technology could therefore be particularly useful for screen new drug candidates for disease that affect brain single-valued function , such as neurodegenerative and psychiatric disorders , he add . That ’s because the different print models could be made to display characteristics of each disorder .
Scientists havepreviously tried to impress human brain tissue . However , the neuron and neuroglia within the final product could n’t form proper work on connections with one another , the authors write in the newspaper publisher . The new printing process approach path allowed web to make because it used a gelatin that was gentle enough to facilitate this physical process , allowing the cells enough give to strive out and connect . Plus , the gel had the tot force needed to still bear the layer of learning ability tissue paper together .
And unlike traditional 3D - printing approach , which heap layers of material vertically , the authors stacked their gel horizontally . This allow the layers to be thin , and thus the cells within them were exposed to as much O and food as potential .
The printed root word cells developed into full - fledge neuron and neuroglia , which organise networks resemble those notice in the human brain , and they even communicated with each othervia chemical messengers call up neurotransmitters . The printed cell that commonly go to different parts of the wit — such as its tabu layer , or cortex , and thestriatum , which is need in decision - making — also formed connection with one another .
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The raw fashion model still has flaws , the authors acknowledged . For instance , the softness of the colloidal gel means it ca n’t print multiple layers in one go , because they ’d collapse if the gel were n’t allowed to jell in between . This slows the printing process . Individual layers are also limited in heaviness because of the nutritious demand of mobile phone within them , which consequently restricts the overall size of the tissue .
" A model is a model , not the real brain , " Zhang said . However , the team is act upon to address these likely pit and refine the technology work forward , he said .
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