Algernon Lives!

          

            Think Flowers for Algernon - and if you don't know what that is, then I recommend reading either the short story or the novel (and if all else fails watch the film. It is called Charly). I'll give you a brief synopsis - a mentally handicapped man and a mouse are both treated with a drug that will make them smarter, and IT WORKS! But, that is much too happy of an ending... I won't ruin it for you, but I highly highly recommend that you read it.

        Onto the story at hand! The above paragraph may seem like a bit of a disconnect from a science blog, but I promise it has a point. Scientists at the University of Rochester Medical Center in New York actually implanted human cells called glial progenitor cells (a type of stem cell) into the brains of infant mice. These stem cells produce different types of glia (sort of the glue of the nervous system), including one called astrocytes. Astroyctes are star shaped and give physical support to neurons, which are the basic building blocks of the human nervous system, through chemicals needed for proper function. They also help nourish the neurons and they form a matrix that keeps the neurons in place.

        After implanting these young mice with the glial cells, scientists did tests to see if the intelligence of the mice had been increased - and it had! The results showed not only that they were indeed smarter, but also that the human glial cells worked better than the rodent ones.  It is believed that the increased intelligence could be due to the fact that human astroyctes are larger and more complex than those of other animals.

        Another fascinating part of this research is that scientists implanted glial cells in the brains of mice that had a genetic disorder similar to multiple sclerosis. The glial progenitors healed the mice, which allowed them to live a normal life span. Scientists believe that this type of cell transplant could also help humans who are affected by neurological disorders.

        There is one very unsettling part for me though. While the glial progenitor cells either increased the intelligence of or healed the mice, it also took over the mice progenitors in about 6 months. This seems a little creepily like the Borg to me (from Star Trek - see here). The Borg assimilate other species and make them part of a collective, and I don't like the idea of human cells taking over where mouse cells should have been in control.

        This research could lead to so many cures and there could be so many uses for glial cells that scientists haven't even found yet. It should be exciting to see where this research takes them, and hopefully it's not to being the real life version of the Borg.

Full Popsci article - here

Full Science News article - here