Brazilian Scientist Sends ‘Mini Brains’ Into Space to Unravel Cell Reaction

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Brazilian scientist Alysson Muotri’s team, from the University of California in San Diego (UCSD), will send the “mini brains” he uses in research into space.

The small versions of the human organ will be contained in a box.

The launch to the International Space Station (ISS) is scheduled to take place this Sunday, July 21st, and this will be the first time that the station hosts organoids of this type.

The idea is to understand how nerve cells can react to extreme conditions — off the earth.

“Mini brains” are the laboratory version of the most complex organ of the human being, but greatly simplified and reduced. They do not possess a complete structure and do not have consciousness, but they rudimentarily simulate the type of cellular organization in the human brain. They are used in studies aimed at understanding the reaction to therapies, brain cell development, and how genes of some conditions or diseases are expressed.

They are additionally used for research on autism by the UCSD team, led by Muotri. The ISS names the project “The Effect of Microgravity on Human Brain Organoids”. The name chosen by NASA for the mission that will take the project is BOARDS (Brain Organoids in Advanced Research Developed in Space).

The study seeks to determine the effect of microgravity on mini brains; the response of “mini brains” to stress and other stimuli that will be applied; if microgravity has any effect on survival and cellular function, metabolic integrity, and regulation of neurons.

“We know that out there in space the “mini-brains” will be growing differently. Would that be an advantage or a disadvantage for the development of the human brain?” asks Alysson. “And, in future colonization of space by humans, by understanding the negative impacts, we could try to prepare the human brain before leaving,” he adds.

At the end of the experiment, which will last three weeks, the approximately one hundred “mini-brains” will be returned to earth. The UCSD research team will measure cell counts, metabolism indicators, and gene expression.

Patrick O’Neill, from the ISS communication desk, confirmed to news site G1 that the material would be sent on Sunday. Muotri informed that the launch might be delayed and occur on Monday, July 22nd.

“This will be the first time that a cargo of brain organoids will be sent to the International Space Station. Other organoids, small living cell masses that interact and grow, have already been sent on other missions,” O’Neill said.

Other research

In January this year, the team led by Alysson unraveled the relationship between a genetic defect and behaviors that are typical of autism, a disorder affecting brain development.

Two years ago, the use of “mini-brains” also contributed to blocking the action of a neurological disease, the Aicard-Goutierres syndrome.

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