Sensor System Research Center-Brain Convergence Technology Research Center Convergence Research
Just as the brain differentiates the colors seen with the human eye, an artificial neural circuit platform that classifies and responds to received light by wavelength has been developed by domestic researchers.
This artificial neural circuit can be used for preliminary verification before animal testing when developing artificial retinas, and is expected to be helpful in the development of related technologies.
At the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST), Dr. Jae-heon Kim and Dr. Hyun-seok Song of the Sensor System Research Center and Dr. Hong-nam Kim’s team of the Brain Convergence Technology Research Group produced an artificial photoreceptor with the same level of visual function as a human through in vitro cell experiments. On the 17th, they announced that they had developed an artificial visual circuit platform that transmits electrical signals produced by receiving light from photoreceptors to other nerve cells.
According to KIST, the research team first expressed rhodopsin, which distinguishes between light and dark, and blue opsin, a protein that distinguishes colors, to create a spheroid cell colony with selective reactivity in blue and green, respectively.
This spheroid, which increased the functionality and viability of nerve cells, produced a response at the same wavelength as the color recognized by the human eye.
Afterwards, they created a device that connected a light-responsive nerve spheroid that mimics the eye and a regular nerve spheroid that mimics the brain, and succeeded in capturing the process of nerve transmission extending to a regular spheroid through a fluorescence microscope.
The researchers explained that they created a visual signal transmission model that allows them to explore how the human brain perceives signals generated in the retina as different colors.
Dr. Jaeheon Kim said, “This is a platform that can reduce dependence on animal testing and reduce research costs by verifying the possibility of transmitting visual signals from artificial photoreceptors in various ways.” He added, “In the future, we will produce spheroids that can recognize all colors that humans can see.” “We plan to develop it into a test kit for visual diseases and their treatment,” he said.
This research was conducted through the ‘Grand Challenge’ project, which aims to develop technologies that are challenging and contribute to humanity through convergence research between departments within KIST. Researchers are conducting research with the goal of developing an artificial system that can replace human retina function in the future.
The results of this study were published on June 28 in the international academic journal ‘Advanced Materials’.
Hello Tea reporter Kim Jin-hee |
2023-09-17 04:23:09
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