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iniewski
Congrats Utkan! Will you be interested in giving a plenary talk on this ...
Engineering 3-D brain tissues with chip technology
Dylan McGrath
11/29/2012 3:30 PM EST
SAN FRANCISCO—Borrowing from fabrication techniques used in the semiconductor industry, engineers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Harvard Medical School say they have developed a simple and inexpensive way to create three-dimensional brain tissues in a lab dish.
According to the researchers, the new technique yields tissue constructs that closely mimic the cellular composition of those in the living brain, allowing scientists to study how neurons form connections and to predict how cells from individual patients might respond to different drugs. The work also paves the way for developing bioengineered implants to replace damaged tissue for organ systems, according to the researchers.
"We think that by bringing this kind of control and manipulation into neurobiology, we can investigate many different directions," says Utkan Demirci, an assistant professor in the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology.
Demirci and Ed Boyden, associate professor of biological engineering and brain and cognitive sciences at MIT's Media Lab and McGovern Institute, are senior authors of a paper describing the new technique, which appears in the Nov. 27 online edition of the journal Advanced Materials. The paper's lead author is Umut Gurkan, a postdoc at HST, Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women's Hospital.
According to Boyden, while researchers have had some success growing artificial tissues such as liver of kidney tissues, the structure of brain tissues presents unique challenges."One of the challenges is the incredible spatial heterogeneity," Boyden said. "There are so many kinds of cells, and they have such intricate wiring."
Next: Enter photolithography
According to the researchers, the new technique yields tissue constructs that closely mimic the cellular composition of those in the living brain, allowing scientists to study how neurons form connections and to predict how cells from individual patients might respond to different drugs. The work also paves the way for developing bioengineered implants to replace damaged tissue for organ systems, according to the researchers.
"We think that by bringing this kind of control and manipulation into neurobiology, we can investigate many different directions," says Utkan Demirci, an assistant professor in the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology.
Demirci and Ed Boyden, associate professor of biological engineering and brain and cognitive sciences at MIT's Media Lab and McGovern Institute, are senior authors of a paper describing the new technique, which appears in the Nov. 27 online edition of the journal Advanced Materials. The paper's lead author is Umut Gurkan, a postdoc at HST, Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women's Hospital.
According to Boyden, while researchers have had some success growing artificial tissues such as liver of kidney tissues, the structure of brain tissues presents unique challenges."One of the challenges is the incredible spatial heterogeneity," Boyden said. "There are so many kinds of cells, and they have such intricate wiring."
Next: Enter photolithography
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iniewski
12/3/2012 7:10 PM EST
Congrats Utkan! Will you be interested in giving a plenary talk on this technology at emerging technologies symposium in Grenoble in 2014? www.cmosetr.com, kris.iniewski@gmail.com
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