0_equals_true wrote:
Yes I'll make sure my brain is intact when I die. But you need to set up a procedure, otherwise I'll probably forget.
When you take these brains and you take sections (or core samples) of them, how long can you preserve each sections and obtain information about them. What is the natural wastage aprox?
Basically how can you get the most out of the brains without them being unusable for info?
Not being personally experienced with brain preservation and dissection, I'm not certain. However, as an educated guess (and I can ask my friend your question and get a more explicit answer for you) samples can be taken from very very small sections, so not a great deal of tissue would likely be used for any given experiment (although, still, that would depend on the type of experiment). But once the sample has been removed, I believe it can no longer be used in further experiments, unless the stain is preserved on the plate somehow.
This is largely how Einstein's brain is no longer salvageable for research: so much has been used and it has also been poorly kept through the years. His tissue has either been used up or degraded to the point there's no more left for viable research. Which is really sad. Also, the discretion of dissection and division was left up to the surgeon who (against the family's wishes) removed Einstein's brain, so there were no stringent guidelines on how much and from where samples could be taken as a brain bank would stipulate.
However, with such a brain bank, the only "unsalvageable" tissues would be from the small samples taken for the research and not from questionable preservation or discretion. So each brain would be able to benefit research many times over.
08 Sep 2007, 5:34 pm
