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Scientists grow brain in rat's thigh: Report
AFP[ SUNDAY, DECEMBER 01, 2002 04:23:53 PM ]
TOKYO: A group of Japanese scientists has transplanted the brain of a baby rat into the thigh of a grown-up rat as an experiment to see how brain tissue can survive after its blood supply is cut off, local media reported on Sunday.
The scientists at Jichi Medical School in Tochigi, north of Tokyo, removed the head of a 12-day-old rat and connected its blood vessels to those in the thigh of the adult rat, Kyodo News agency said.
It took the team 90 minutes to graft the rat's brain into the thigh, but the organ survived and its neurological functions developed after the transplant.
The brain grew and the mouth of the baby rat even moved as if trying to drink milk, it said.
It is commonly believed that brain tissue dies immediately after the blood supply is cut off.
The study also showed that a rat experiment conducted in a cool room was successful, while one performed in a warmer environment failed, the report said.
"The finding that a transplant is possible if the brains are cooled helps add a reference to brain surgery," Nobufumi Kawai, one of the scientists, was quoted by Kyodo as saying. |
