“Lab On A Chip” Mimics Brain Chemistry

      NanoBioTechnology: A micro-scale tool designed to mimic the chemical complexities of the brain

Johns Hopkins researchers from the Whiting School of Engineering and the School of Medicine have devised a system that should help scientists better understand how nerve cells in the brain work together to form the nervous system.Nerve cells decide which direction to grow by sensing both the chemical cues flowing through their environment as well as those attached to the surfaces that surround them. The chip, which is made of a plastic-like substance and covered with a glass lid, features a system of channels and wells that allow researchers to control the flow of specific chemical cocktails around single nerve cells.

Source: http://www.hopkinsm edicine.org/