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Surely, you can’t build a human brain by using 3D printing?!
That was my first response — surely this isn’t possible! The brain consists of bunches of brain cells, supporting cells, and learns and grows together with a bunches of chemical transmitters.
So, in this sense your brain and each part of it is uniquely built on your genetics and usage over the years.
But it is important to note that this refers to helping to repair brains not print full brains!
So what have these researchers done then?
Well, they have managed to 3D print simplified brain structures from human stem cells.
My brain is still spinning — how is this possible and can this really help to repair brains?
Well, it looks promising but it’s still early days. And yes, my brain also finds it hard to comprehend how it can be done, knowing what I know about the brain.
The team from Oxford University created micro structures from human stem cells and then put them in solution with mouse brain slices. It’s needles to say a very complex process and we’re talking of small sections of small parts of the brain.
Nevertheless, the cells became active and seemed to merge and grow with the mouse brain slices and start signalling, suggesting that…
