Mouse Brain Cells Live Longer and Prosper
Scientists recently finished a study to find if a mouse's brain lasts longer than their body. A commonly accepted theory is that species have a set life span. By the end of that life span, all cells are supposed die at around the same time. Neurosurgeon, Lorenzo Magrassi, led a team which inserted micro-needles into pregnant mice into the unborn mice. They then took out bits of brain tissue and injected them into fetal rat brains. Rats live about twice as long as mice (3 years vs. 18 months). They waited for the rats to be born and get to three years of age before euthanizing them.
They found that the mouse cells have developed into working neurons in the rats' brains, but they remained the same small size as a non-transplanted mouse cell. Magrassi's team had made the mouse cells glow green so they would be easy to find. They discovered that the mouse cells aged about the same rate as the rat cells though the rat lived twice as long. In fact, the rat neurons were still alive when the rats died.
This is important to today because the average human life span is slowly growing. This study tells us that we can be fairly certain that our neurons will last as long as we do. However there are still diseases like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. It is hoped that this study can shed a little more light on these diseases.
NOS Themes:
Science is subject to debate and tenative.
The article I read clearly stated that a previous theory was proved wrong. Not all cells die or begin to deteriorate when an organism reaches the end of it's expected life span. Things in science change daily and it should be viewed as tenative.
Science is based on evidence.
Only after scientists disected the brains of sixty rats did they state that a theory had been disproved. If the green mice cells were not present no such claims could have been made.
Roles of Motivation and Curiosity
Every experiment has a motive. If we did not have questions then nobody would ever experiment. Magrassi wondered and carried out an experience that has made an impact on the world. Many are wondering if these results could be analyzed and begin new experiments based on Parkinson's or Alzheimer's.
Link: http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/348600/description/Mouse_brain_cells_live_long_and_prosper
Additional link: http://www.foxnews.com/science/2013/02/26/brain-cells-can-outlive-body/?intcmp=features
I am still confused at how a mouse cell could function in a rats brain, but nonetheless this is a really cool experiment that proves that our minds can endure the test of time. with the advancements in medical technology who knows how long members of our generation will live for.
ReplyDeleteDoes this mean that brain cells may live indefinitely or is their age effectively reset when transplanted into a younger host? Could this mean that we could transplant the brain as part of an organ donor program? Could the transplant cure mental ailments such as Alzheimer's? There seems to be many an application to the results of this experiment, a great experiment to build upon.
ReplyDeleteThis was a really cool article! The title definitely caught my attention. The experiment that your article outlines was really creative, and I actually really like mice, so I looked up some guidelines for the fair treatment of mice during scientific procedures.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.ccac.ca/Documents/Standards/Guidelines/Vol2/mice.pdf
I did some research on the lifespan of different cells, and found that there are other cells that last a lifetime. Nerve cells and certain types of muscle cells don't self-replicate and are expected to last at least as long as the body they are part of.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.wisegeek.org/what-is-the-average-cell-life-span.htm
It's sad that the mice and rats have to suffer for our advancement. But it's still interesting to learn that our brain cells can outlive our bodies. I don't know if the person that told me this got it from a credible source, but I heard that brain cells are one of the first things to die when a person dies. Another Nature of Science theme that applies to your article is that science is collaborative because Dr. Magrassi worked with other scientists to achieve this.
ReplyDelete