Cerebral Hemispheres 2
NEUROSCIENTIFICALLY CHALLENGED

NEUROSCIENCE MADE SIMPLER

Sisyphus and Science, or History Repeats Itself


Researchers working at the Harvard Stem Cell Institute (HSCI) published a paper online last week in Cell Stem Cell discussing advances they’ve made in trying to coax adult cells to revert to embryonic stem cell-like states, without viruses or oncogenes (cancer-causing genes). They have outlined the molecular process involved in this nuclear reprogramming, something which up until now has been a very nebulous sequence of events. Being able to reprogram cells without viruses or oncogenes is crucial, as their involvement prohibits the use of the resultant embryonic stem cells (ESC) in humans.

While it is important to understand this process, a great amount of time and research money is being spent trying to convert adult cells to ESCs when there are somewhere around ½ a million frozen embryos sitting in fertility clinics around the country. When a woman undergoes in vitro fertilization (IVF), several embryos are created from the fertilization process. After a few days, the embryos are inspected and the healthiest few are selected for transfer (the actual number transferred varies with the age of the patient and the laws of the country where the procedure is done). The patient can then decide what to do with the remaining embryos: freeze (cryopreserve) them, donate them to research, or dispose of them. Many patients, thinking of the potential for life (or for future IVF procedures) the blastocysts possess, have an understandably difficult time making the decision to donate them to research or have them disposed of (for an interesting article on the difficulty of this decision, go here). Thus, the embryos are frozen and there they stay, sometimes indefinitely.

But, due to George W. Bush’s fanatical opposition of stem cell legislation, scientists can’t get research funding from the government to use even those frozen embryos that patients have chosen to donate to science. They remain untouched, alongside the hundreds of thousands of others, as the top scientists in the country try to figure out ways to make ESCs out of adult cells.

Ironically, IVF itself was the focus of political and ethical debates for years, attacked with the same arguments being used against ESC research. Now, however, it is a commonly accepted practice. And, while IVF provides infertile couples or women with the ability to have children—an amazing blessing for these people—ESCs have potential to be used in the treatment of any disease that involves the degradation of tissue. This would include Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, type I diabetes, spinal cord injuries, or stroke (to name a few). Thus, ESCs might be able to provide some blessings of their own.

While the advancements of the researchers at HSCI are great, I can’t help but wonder what type of developments we would be seeing if scientists didn’t have to focus on this hurdle of turning adult cells into ESCs, when there are hundreds of potential ESC lines just waiting out there to be created from frozen embryos. It’s like being tied down to a chair in the middle of the grocery store and dying of starvation.

YOUR BRAIN, EXPLAINED

Sleep. Memory. Pleasure. Fear. Language. We experience these things every day, but how do our brains create them? Your Brain, Explained is a personal tour around your gray matter. Building on neuroscientist Marc Dingman’s popular YouTube series, 2-Minute Neuroscience, this is a friendly, engaging introduction to the human brain and its quirks using real-life examples and Dingman’s own, hand-drawn illustrations.

  • Dingman weaves classic studies with modern research into easily digestible sections, to provide an excellent primer on the rapidly advancing field of neuroscience. - Moheb Costandi, author, Neuroplasticity and 50 Human Brain Ideas You Really Need to Know

  • An informative, accessible and engaging book for anyone who has even the slightest interest in how the brain works, but doesn’t know where to begin. - Dean Burnett, PhD, author, Happy Brain and Idiot Brain

  • ...a highly readable and accessible introduction to the operation of the brain and current issues in neuroscience... a wonderful introduction to the field. - Frank Amthor, PhD, Professor of Psychology, The University of Alabama at Birmingham, author, Neuroscience for Dummies

  • Reading like a collection of detective stories, Your Brain, Explained combines classic cases in the history of neurology with findings stemming from the latest techniques used to probe the brain’s secrets. - Stanley Finger, PhD, Professor Emeritus of Psychological & Brain Sciences, Washington University (St. Louis), author, Origins of Neuroscience

BIZARRE

This book shows a whole other side of how brains work by examining the most unusual behavior to emerge from the human brain. In it, you'll meet a woman who is afraid to take a shower because she fears her body will slip down the drain, a man who is convinced he is a cat, a woman who compulsively snacks on cigarette ashes, and many other unusual cases. As uncommon as they are, each of these cases has something important to teach us about everyday brain function.

  • A unique combination of storytelling and scientific explanation that appeals to the brain novice, the trained neuroscientist, and everyone in between. Dingman explores some of the most fascinating and mysterious expressions of human behavior in a style that is case study, dramatic novel, and introductory textbook all rolled into one. - Alison Kreisler, PhD, Neuroscience Instructor, California State University, San Marcos

  • Through case studies of both exceptional people as well as those with disorders, Bizarre takes us on a fascinating journey in which we learn more about what is going on in our skull. - William J. Ray, PhD, Emeritus Professor of Psychology, The Pennsylvania State University, author, Abnormal Psychology

  • Dingman brings the history of neuroscience back to life and weaves in contemporary ideas seamlessly. Readers will come along for the ride of a really interesting read and accidentally learn some neuroscience along the way. - Erin Kirschmann, PhD, Associate Professor of Psychology & Counseling, Immaculata University

  • Bizarre is a collection of stories of how the brain can create zombies, cult members, extra limbs, instant musicians, and overnight accents, to name a few of the mind-scratching cases. After reading this book, you will walk away with a greater appreciation for this bizarre organ. If you are a fan of Oliver Sacks' books, you're certain to be a fan of Dingman's Bizarre. - Allison M. Wilck, PhD, Researcher and Assistant Professor of Psychology, Eastern Mennonite University