February 19, 2004
Researchers Discover New Source of Neural Stem Cells.
Of special interest to monkey lovers: "the differences we see imply that this region in the human brain doesn't necessarily do the same things as its primate and rodent counterparts." Maybe.
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Given the evolutionary recent divergence of chimps and humans, it's likely that chimp astrocytes also have the same capabilities.
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this could be very, very interesting. the work that's being done with current stem cell lines in rodents is pretty amazing. i sat in on a talk a year or so ago, showing results of stem cells implanted in specific brain regions. not only did they start generating the appropriate neurotransmitters you'd expect to see in these regions, they actually grew axons to innervate the brain bits they ought to target. seems that the brain still had the right signals present, to promote nerve growth in the right direction*. it was very, very cool work. tests on people were preliminary, underway, and seemed in some cases to restore function - like replacing the cells that generate dopamine, which (if missing) result in parkinson's. damn, if i remembered who the speaker was, i'd point you at the right references... *oh yeah, nerve growth. since we aren't all neuroscience people. there's tons of different factors that determine the direction that a nerve cell sends it's output branch. growing nerve cells is easy, getting them to grow to the right targets is hard. the fact that the implanted tissue seemed to grow to the right spot on its own is a major point in favor of pushing for more research here - that was half the battle, right there.
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I nominate caution live frogs for the best username ever.
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Flashboy already has you covered, homunculus.