Scientists working at the Ohio State University in America have confirmed that for the first time, an almost fully-formed human brain has been grown artificially in a laboratory. The team responsible for the experiment are extremely excited about the ramifications that it could have for researching drugs and brain activity, as well as the possible breakthroughs it could trigger in the study of the human brain, particularly in psychology and psychiatry. However, for many people not familiar with neuroscience and its research, this discovery poses more questions than it answers, so let's attempt to tackle some:

How was the brain grown in the laboratory?

The brain was grown in the laboratory over a 12 week period, after which it resembled the developing brain of a five week-old foetus. It was developed by converting adult skin cells into pluripotent cells, a kind of stem cell that can then be converted into any kind of tissue. These cells were then grown in a special environment in order to transform them into the required brain cells for the experiment. The growth was stopped at five weeks as the scientists would need a set of special blood cells to develop it past this period, something which is not yet possible.

Has an experiment of this kind been attempted before?

As far as we are aware, no experiments of this nature have been attempted before, and for sure we can say that even if it has been attempted, then it has never been successful. The results of this research marks a real breakthrough in brain sciences, and its ramifications could be felt for years to come.

Does this kind of research have major ethical ramifications?

The scientists working on the project have assured the scientific world and the general public that the growing of a brain in this instance does not pose any ethical questions. This is because, as the lead researcher Rene Anand stated, the brain is not thinking. As there is no sensory stimuli entering the brain – the things that we would usually sense with our eyes, ears, nose, mouth, and touch –  there is nothing for it process, and therefore it is not cognitive.

What does this mean for the study of the human brain going forward?

Clearly, a study of this kind is a major step forward in continued study of the human brain. Now that the possibility of growing brains for research purposes is very real, we can finally study in more detail the effects of a number of different things on the brain, including drugs, stress, anxiety, extreme conditions, and much more. In addition, this research will almost certainly lead to more studies of this kind, advancing the science of growing brains over the next few years. How experiments of this kind develop in the future, however, we will have to wait and see.