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Miniature 'human brain' grown in lab


seeder

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WOW!!

"Miniature 'human brain' grown in lab"

Miniature "human brains" have been grown in a lab in a feat scientists hope will transform the understanding of neurological disorders.

The pea-sized structures reached the same level of development as in a nine-week-old foetus, but are incapable of thought. The study, published in the journal Nature, has already been used to gain insight into rare diseases.

Neuroscientists have described the findings as astounding and fascinating.

The human brain is one of the most complicated structures in the universe.

Scientists at Institute of Molecular Biotechnology of the Austrian Academy of Sciences have now reproduced some of the earliest stages of the organ's development in the laboratory.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-23863544

I wonder if and when they grow bigger brains, what the brains will be thinking off while sat in a lab dish?

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Some people could do with thinking brains.

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Some people could do with thinking brains.

haha yeh agreed! But I think its great news for science/medicine. As with all findings/inventions, they get perfected over time, so this really is in its infancy.

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At first I thought this was pretty funny. "Miniature human brains grown in a lab". I thought, what's "The Enquirer" going to do with this story?

I wonder if and when they grow bigger brains, what the brains will be thinking off while sat in a lab dish?

Growing brains in laboratories. I'm sure in future someone will grow a complete human brain in a lab. It will probably have eyes, as the eye is considered part of the brain, and according to the article the mini brains can grow a retina. It will float in its bowl, looking around and wondering how it got there. All sorts of scenarios can be imagined, but I would feel sorry for the poor thing.

On the other hand, it might be a happy brain. I mean, what's it got to worry about? It probably wouldn't even recognize the lab assistants as mobile brains. It might think it is the only brain in the room and feel sorry for those poor animates that mechanically do whatever they do.

This is why I don't think we should try to communicate with these brains. Think how bad they would feel realizing they're stuck in some bowl when all the other brains have bodies and have a life.

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At first I thought this was pretty funny. "Miniature human brains grown in a lab". I thought, what's "The Enquirer" going to do with this story?

Growing brains in laboratories. I'm sure in future someone will grow a complete human brain in a lab. It will probably have eyes, as the eye is considered part of the brain, and according to the article the mini brains can grow a retina. It will float in its bowl, looking around and wondering how it got there. All sorts of scenarios can be imagined, but I would feel sorry for the poor thing.

On the other hand, it might be a happy brain. I mean, what's it got to worry about? It probably wouldn't even recognize the lab assistants as mobile brains. It might think it is the only brain in the room and feel sorry for those poor animates that mechanically do whatever they do.

This is why I don't think we should try to communicate with these brains. Think how bad they would feel realizing they're stuck in some bowl when all the other brains have bodies and have a life.

if you took a child and left it in the wilderness with no human contact, the childs brain development is seriously messed up for a human that is. We have all heard tales of feral kids found in forests who cannot adapt to 'human' life very easy or communicate either.

Now a brain, with no ears or eyes,or a body for physical stimulation, or even if it had eyes, wont be aware of itself as being a person, because its not. Nor will it have any learnings that may be construed as human either. So for people who get freaked out that its a 'human'.... really it isn't. Its human brain cells grown into a lump of matter that could behave like a regular brain

typos

Edited by seeder
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if you took a child and left it in the wilderness with no human contact, the childs brain development is seriously messed up for a human that is. We have all heard tales of feral kids found in forests who cannot adapt to 'human' life very easy or communicate either.

Now a brain, with no ears or eyes,or a body for physical stimulation, or even if it had eyes, wont be aware of itself as being a person, because its not. Nor will it have any learnings that may be construed as human either. So for people who get freaked out that its a 'human'.... really it isn't. Its human brain cells grown into a lump of matter that could behave like a regular brain

This may be true. How could we know what's going on inside the brain? It might be self-aware without external stimulation. It might have pre-linguistic thoughts, intimations and intuitions even though it lives in isolation. It may develop a complex set of internal associations with meanings for itself.

The cells were able to grow and organise themselves into separate regions of the brain, such as the cerebral cortex, the retina, and, rarely, an early hippocampus, which would be heavily involved in memory in a fully developed adult brain

In fact, not experiencing external stimuli, these brains may come to conclusions impossible for us who have personalities. If we could link our brains to these brains, we might discover they have some valuable wisdom to teach us. I mean, how great is it to have a personality? Personalities may be getting in the way of achieving a better, more pure consciousness.

On the other hand, linking to these brains would be a two-way street. We would be giving these brains a taste of what it's like to have a body and a personality. This may be a corrupting influence or confuse these brains. They'd probably shut down their interface and shake their brain in disgust. Or maybe just breathe an imaginary sigh of relief in the knowledge that they won't ever have to suffer the trauma of a human personality.

A brain is a marvelous thing when you just leave it alone.

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Hmm, a brain without thought. So many political jokes here, so little time.......

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Lol, Sundew. We were thinking the same thing.

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Lol, Sundew. We were thinking the same thing.

Haha, some things are just too easy!

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I guess growing organoids from cells will help scientists study or learn more about our own organs and one day help fight certain horrible diseases.

But then again there's that eternal ethical question of where do we set the boundaries....and that fear of this technology falling in the wrong hands.

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WOW!!

"Miniature 'human brain' grown in lab"

Miniature "human brains" have been grown in a lab in a feat scientists hope will transform the understanding of neurological disorders.

Great. Now they can mass produce them and surgically implant them in Congress critters. It would be a major step forward, a government that actually has a means to acquire intelligence.

Edit to add: Yeah, I know it's been said in other words already but I just woke up and haven't yet started my 1st liter of coffee. Deal with it.

Edited by Kludge808
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I think it's a great development. Now if they can just keep the politics out of it...

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I think it's a great development. Now if they can just keep the politics out of it..

Yeah, we don't want politicians with brains. They may actually start thinking. There's a scary thought.

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