Researchers replicate Alzheimer’s brain cells in a petri dish

For the first time, and to the astonishment of many of their colleagues, researchers created what they call Alzheimer’s in a Dish — a petri dish with human brain cells that develop the telltale structures of Alzheimer’s disease. In doing so, they resolved a longstanding problem of how to study Alzheimer’s and search for drugs to treat it — the best they had until now were mice that developed an imperfect form of the disease.

Researchers replicate Alzheimer’s brain cells in a petri dish AerosmithDoctor%2001

Researchers replicate Alzheimer’s brain cells in a petri dish AerosmithDoctor%2001

The key to their success, said the lead researcher, Dr. Rudolph E. Tanzi of the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, was a suggestion by his colleague Doo Yeon Kim to grow human brain cells in a gel where they formed networks as in an actual brain. They gave the neurons genes for Alzheimer’s disease. Within weeks they saw the hard Brillo-like clumps known as plaques and then the twisted spaghetti-like coils known as tangles — the defining features of Alzheimer’s disease.

The work, which also offers strong support for an old idea about how the disease progresses, was published in Nature on Sunday. Leading researchers said it should have a big effect.

“It is a giant step forward for the field,” said Dr. P. Murali Doraiswamy, a professor of neuroscience at Duke University. “It could dramatically accelerate testing of new drug candidates.”

http://www.bostonglobe.com/news/science/2014/10/12/researchers-replicate-alzheimer-brain-cells-petri-dish/vV9dAPIPnWUHktTl5Bu4EM/story.html

Researchers replicate Alzheimer’s brain cells in a petri dish

Researchers replicate Alzheimer’s brain cells in a petri dish

Anarcho-Capitalist Categorical Imperatives

AnCaps In Science, Technology & Environment