Stem Cell-Derived Brain Mimics Predict Chemical Toxicity

MTorrice writes: Scientists in Wisconsin have grown three-dimensional brain-like tissue structures from human embryonic stem cells. These new structures are easy to grow and contain vascular cells and microglia, a type of immune cell. The breakthrough may change the way we test drugs and chemicals for their effect on the human brain. Currently most tests use multiple generations of rats and cost about $1 million to test one chemical. “In the near term, the approach might be more valuable to identify pathways and mechanisms of toxicity,” says William Murphy, a biomedical engineer at the University of Wisconsin. “We are gathering so much data on responses of these human brain mimics to known toxic chemicals that we can start to understand the signaling pathways affected by the chemicals. Not just whether, but how the chemicals are affecting the developing human brain.”

how the chemicals are affecting

[turkeydance]

effecting, too.

Save the rats!!

[rholtzjr]

And to think that there were opponents to stem cell research and the benefits it could provide.

This is terrible, just terrible!

[fuzzyfuzzyfungus]

If testing for toxicity, especially testing for the subtler stuff that doesn't just kill you outright at a fairly low LD50 but does worrisome things to neurological, endocrine, or other complex system development; gets cheaper, we might be forced to do more of it!

Just imagine the chilling effect of more predictive testing and less chance to deploy first and phase out kicking and screaming if you really, really, have to... This is a sad day for innovation and progress.

Isn't this just heuristic scanning?

[killfixx]

This is the same mechanism used during antivirus scans.

Makes sense to do it with biological machines, too.