As of: March 7, 2024, 4:51 a.m
By: Nico Reiter
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A team of researchers has managed to print functional brain tissue.
This could open up new avenues for research into neuronal diseases.
Madison – Researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have made impressive progress.
They have successfully produced brain tissue using a 3D printer that acts and grows like human tissue.
This pressure could form the basis for future brain research, improve understanding of disease and potentially generate new treatments, as the team explains in their study.
Novel 3D printing process enables the production of brain tissue
Previous attempts to print brain tissue have had limited success.
Instead of printing the layers vertically as usual, in this case they worked horizontally.
The decisive advance came with the use of “bio-ink”.
This is softer than the materials previously used.
This allowed brain cells created from stem cells to be embedded in the ink.
(Symbolic image) Research succeeds in creating brain tissue with a 3D printer © Christian Vorhofer/Imago
The experiment was successful – the cells are able to communicate with each other.
The printed cells extend through the medium and form connections both within and between layers.
They form an extensive network, similar to that in the human brain.
New technology enables specific observation of the brain
The new method gives researchers greater control over the types and compositions of cells they want to study.
To date, brain research has largely taken place on brain organoids.
These are model organs made from stem cells, but they grow in a less controlled manner.
“It is an influential model that can help us understand how human brain cells and areas communicate,” explains Su-Chun Zhang, a professor of neuroscience at the University of Wisconsin-Madison News Media Platform.
“It could change the way we look at stem cell biology, neuroscience and the development of neurological and mental illnesses.”
Thanks to the specificity of the prints that is now possible, scientists can act flexibly in their research.
“We can observe very specifically how neurons communicate under certain conditions because we can print exactly what we want,” says Zhang.
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Advances in the understanding and treatment of neurological diseases
The new technology could be used to understand the signals between the cells of a person with Down syndrome or to detect the differences between healthy brain tissue and brain tissue affected by Alzheimer's.
The model could also be used to test the effects of new medications.
In the future, the technology will be made available to several laboratories.
No special equipment is required, it works with standard 3D printers.
The tissue created can also be analyzed using microscopes and known techniques.
Further research with 3D printers is underway.
A skullcap from a 3D printer has already been used.
It is possible that other organs could soon be printed.
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