They shall be called Frankenswine!
A group of researchers at Yale University School of Medicine have miraculously restored partial cellular activity in the brains of dead pigs.
In the experiment, titled BrainEx, led by Nenad Sestan, the team gathered 32 pig brains from a local slaughterhouse and infused them with oxygen, nutrients and protective chemicals.
The experiment began just four hours after the pigs had been killed. After the test subjects were brought to he lab, the research team removed the pigs’ brains and placed them in an experimental chamber, NPR reports.
The pigs’ blood vessels were then hooked up to a device that injected the concoction for six hours.
That’s when the scientists began to notice activity. “We found that tissue and cellular structure is preserved and cell death is reduced. In addition, some molecular and cellular functions were restored,” Sestan said according to NPR.
The experiment restored flow in the pigs’ blood vessels and stopped cells, including neurons from dying.
The pigs’ brains, however, did not ever regain consciousness.
“This is not a living brain, but it is a cellularly active brain,” Sestan said during a briefing held by The National Institutes of Health, according to The New York Times.
The shocking development has since offered a new way to look at brain diseases or injuries, creating hope that it will help doctors develop different methods to treat stroke patients.
“This is a real breakthrough for brain research. It’s a new tool that bridges the gap between basic neuroscience and clinical research,” Andrea Beckel-Mitchener of the National Institute of Mental Health said, NPR reports.
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