Miniature 'human brain' grown in lab

[IDemo]

Source: BBC News

Miniature "human brains" have been grown in a lab in a feat scientists hope will transform the understanding of neurological disorders.

The pea-sized structures reached the same level of development as in a nine-week-old foetus, but are incapable of thought.

The study, published in the journal Nature, has already been used to gain insight into rare diseases.

Neuroscientists have described the findings as astounding and fascinating.

Read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-23863544

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Must..withhold...Teapublican...comment...

[warrant46]

1. Now Shrub can get his transplant

[avebury]

2. Republican brains - grown in a lab.

[mike_c]

3. here's what they look like....

[Myrina]

4. Quick, tell the pro-lifers! Free the fetus brains!!

[d_r]

6. That was my first thought, too

but honestly, there will be some ethical questions to figure out as this type of technology advances.

[freshwest]

23. Duzy! The whole thread's gonna be a winner! 'Must..withhold...Teapublican' No, don't!!

[Agnosticsherbet]

5. I saw this on one of the Spy Kids movies. n/t

[Paladin]

7. Don't waste it on Louie Gohmert. (nt)

[AtheistCrusader]

8. Time to upgrade Michelle Bachmann.

[Lasher]

12. I hate it when milk comes out of my nose.

[ck4829]

9. Soon, they will be able to put them in mice, and then Christine O'Donnell would have been right!1!

[Blue Owl]

10. And it outperforms Rand Paul's brain.

n/t

[freshwest]

24. GMTA.

[AsahinaKimi]

11. Weren't they cloned

from the tiny brains of Dinosaurs?

[freshwest]

26. Could be bad. Coming from the UK, though, you know what's next:

P. S. Excuse me though:

A Bambi Raptor? Sweet Little Bambi who eats people alive?

Sorry, I gotta pass on that one!

[AsahinaKimi]

30. Well if thats the case, we know who is on the way..

[freshwest]

31. Cool gif! *steals* But back to that raptor:

The Dragons of Eden: Speculations on the Evolution of Human Intelligence is a Pulitzer Prize[1] winning 1977 book by Carl Sagan.

In it, he combines the fields of anthropology, evolutionary biology, psychology, and computer science to give a perspective of how human intelligence evolved.

One of the main issues featured in the book is the search for a quantitative way of measuring intelligence. Sagan shows that the brain to body mass ratio is an extremely good indicator, with humans having the highest and dolphins second.[2] It does break down, however, at the extremely small end of the scale. Smaller creatures (ants in particular) place disproportionally high on the list.

Other topics mentioned include the evolution of the brain (with emphasis on the function of the neocortex in humans), the evolutionary purpose of sleep and dreams, demonstration of sign language abilities by chimps and the purpose of mankind's innate fears and myths.

The title "The Dragons of Eden" refers to man's early struggle for survival in the face of predators, and how fear of reptiles may have led to cultural beliefs and myths about dragons and snakes.

Opening quote:

The Human race is poised midway between the Gods and the Beasts.

~ Plotinus

His son kept going with the same thing:



Up from Dragons: The Evolution of Human Intelligence

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Up_from_Dragons

Never a dull day on Planet Earth.

[AsahinaKimi]

32. I forgot to set it to music..

[freshwest]

33. Thanks!

[CRH]

13. Fantastic!!! ...

Now do you think we could learn how to extract CO2 from the atmosphere and sequester it safely. Oh let me guess, that is what these pea sized brains are going to do.

[Posteritatis]

35. Why do you think neuroscientists would be working on that? (nt)

[athenasatanjesus]

14. We must all remember that Scooty Puff Jr SUCKS!

just in case.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

15. Finally!!!

[MADem]

16. I think you win the thread!!

[DebJ]

28. DUZY

[KinMd]

17. The Teabagger jokes just write themselves

[bitchkitty]

18. Science invented pea brains!

The teabaggers will have competition.

[Posteritatis]

19. That's a whole variety of awesome, and not just in the silly snark fodder way. (nt)

[tclambert]

20. Big deal. Barbara Bush grew an even smaller one 67 years ago, and named him George.

[rug]

21. Tiny brains incapable of thought.

It's a good thing the Tea Party is too stupid to exploit this.

[PD Turk]

22. Stop that!!

We have enough rethugs already!

[Zambero]

25. Small enough to transplant into dittoheads?

Not too much cranial capacity there. Pea-sized would be a tight fit, but hey, worth a try!

[Behind the Aegis]

27. Republicans cry: "We have been doing this the natural way for eons!"

Liberals cry: "Stop cloning republicans!"

[freshwest]

29. +1,000!

[Posteritatis]

34. The responses to this are kind of depressing. (nt)