bioelectronics is a violent field of medicine, but perhaps it has just made a gigantic leap forward: scientists successfully grow electrodes in living tissues, paving the path to fully integrated electronic schemes for the treatment of neurological disorders.
In the experiments conducted at the University of Lund, Danio fish and medical leeches introduced a gel containing enzymes as “assembly molecules”. Electrodes were found in the brain, heart and tail fins of fish, as well as around the nervous tissue of leeches. At the same time, the animals were not affected by either from the gel or from the electrodes.
Roger Olsson, a professor of medical faculty of Lunda University, explained: “Making reasonable changes to the chemical composition, we were able to develop electrodes that were adopted by brain tissues and immune system. Danio-reerio are an excellent model for studying organic electrodes in the brain” .
The electronic circuit is created in the body naturally and does not have pernicious effect on it. Magnus Berggren, a professor at the University of Lincheping, said: “For several decades, we tried to create an electronics imitating biology. Now we allow biology to create electronics for us.”
Opening is the basis for future cardinal changes in the integration of electronic components into the body of animals and humans. For medicine, this opens up the possibility of treating severe neurological diseases. Development can be used to stimulate affected tissues or their replacement with computer platforms.
The study was published in the journal science .