A living isolated brain

Scientists have learned to maintain the life of the brain outside the body

Anna Kerman, XX2 century

A group of scientists from Yale University has learned to maintain the life of the brain outside the body. Experiments on pigs showed that the animals' brains showed signs of life 36 hours after the separation of the head from the trunk.

Nenad Sestan, who led the research team, presented the results of the work at the recent conference of the National Institutes of Health of the USA (National Institutes of Health).

To provide the brains of experimental animals with the necessary nutrients and oxygen, scientists have created a special closed-loop system BrainEx. The pumps of the system fed blood substitute heated to body temperature directly into the brain isolated from the rest of the body.

Sestan declined to comment on the work done in more detail, but called its results "beyond comprehension" and unexpected. During the experiments, it turned out that normal activity remained in individual brain cells (however, the decapitated pigs never returned to consciousness).

"The brain itself could have been damaged, but its cells are alive, it's a living organ," says Steve Hyman, head of psychiatric research at the Broad Institute in Cambridge, "It's amazing from a technical point of view, but not too different from preserving a kidney."

The new study may be useful not only for a better understanding of the human brain. It can also change our perception of death, consciousness and everything related to mental activity.

During the presentation, Sestan noted that the new technology will most likely work on any animals, including primates.

Some experts believe that human corpses could be used to test new risky drugs for the treatment of cancer or Alzheimer's disease, too dangerous to inject into a living organism.

Meanwhile, Sestan is alarmed by how the new technology has been adopted by both colleagues and the general public.

"People are delighted," says the scientist. "We have to be careful about how strong this rapture is."

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