Scientists 3D-printed functional human brain tissue for the first time ever

BGR

A group of researchers working with the University of Wisconsin-Madison claim to have created the first 3D-printed human brain tissue that is actually functional. The group says it hopes that their research will open new doors for studying existing neurological disorders like Alzheimer’s.

The researchers published their findings in a paper featured in Cell Stem Cell, detailing how they created the 3D-printed brain tissue using horizontal layers of “bio-ink” gel.

“The tissue still has enough structure to hold together, but it is soft enough to allow the neurons to grow into each other and start talking to each other,” Su-Chun Zhang, a co-author on the new research, said in a statement about the 3D-printed brain tissue.

Because of the arrangement they used, the researchers say that the cells started forming networks similarly to how the human brain does, allowing them to communicate with each other through the neurotransmitters that they created…