What should I buy to grow neurons in a petri dish?

[RustMoth]

What should I buy to grow neurons in a petri dish?

Is this legal?

Do I need a license?

[Function]

Magic

 

Or an embryo. Or equivalent stem cells. You asking if it is legal is basically an argument for me to answer with "not for you, it isn't".

[RustMoth]

I can use my own, right?

My own neurons?

That's legitimate

[Function]

(1) How were you planning to extract your own neurons?

(2) If not: impossible to make them out of stem cells; I'm afraid you would not have the appropriate knowledge of recoding stem cells in omnipotent germ line cells, let alone make them differntiate into neur(on)al tissue

 

(3) Only way I can think of is by you hurting yourself. Don't. It's not worth it. Whatever you try to do probably already has been done.

(4) You can't grow neurons from neurons. Neurons don't divide. You have the repertory in your brain and that's it. And if neurons die, which will most obviously happen when you try to extract them from your own body, you can't revive them.

 

(5) Don't even think of extracting hippocampal neurons from your own brain (reading this sentence does make that a contradictio in terminis; but you get the point).

Edited January 3, 2017 by Function

[hypervalent_iodine]

Even ignoring all of the great points outline by Function, culturing human cell lines is notoriously difficult, even in the most experienced of labs. It's not something you can just do with a petri dish.

[RustMoth]

I can do rat trials first. They've done stuff like that.

https://singularityhub.com/2010/10/06/videos-of-robot-controlled-by-rat-brain-amazing-technology-still-moving-forward/

 

I guess that's a good first starting point.

I'll get back to you with updates.

I'm pretty sure I'll need a crispr kit and something else for farming the cells

[CharonY]

You need a lab, tools and an understanding of at least bsasic cell culture techniques. It is an entirely different endeavor compared to growing microbes.

To give a timeline, the average grad student needs about half a year under supervision to successfully establish primary cell lines.

[Fallen Enigma]

I don't know how you're planning to use CRISPR, a genome editing tool, to extract neuron cells. As you're talking about licensing etc I am assuming you are planning to do this of your own accord. One of your biggest problems bar getting the cells on a suitable medium (bearing in mind they can't themselves undergo division), would be contamination. You would need to ensure that bacteria, fungi and other opportunists, that would be happy to contaminate your media don't make their way in to it. For this you would need a lot space, experience and equipment (as a result money), one of your most important tools would be at least a Class I cabinet, if you're feeling particularly cheap. Unfortunately the commitments of such a project make it virtually impossible to do outside of an institution. As for licensing etc I am not sure, it depends on where you are, but I can't see you needing a license or it being illegal.

[RustMoth]

I don't know how you're planning to use CRISPR, a genome editing tool, to extract neuron cells. As you're talking about licensing etc I am assuming you are planning to do this of your own accord. One of your biggest problems bar getting the cells on a suitable medium (bearing in mind they can't themselves undergo division), would be contamination. You would need to ensure that bacteria, fungi and other opportunists, that would be happy to contaminate your media don't make their way in to it. For this you would need a lot space, experience and equipment (as a result money), one of your most important tools would be at least a Class I cabinet, if you're feeling particularly cheap. Unfortunately the commitments of such a project make it virtually impossible to do outside of an institution. As for licensing etc I am not sure, it depends on where you are, but I can't see you needing a license or it being illegal.

I plan to use CRISPR to modify neurons after the extraction.

Sounds like I'll have to jimmy-rig a vacuum sealed lab.

It may be beyond my budget still. Thanks for the heads up.

[CharonY]

I don't know how you're planning to use CRISPR, a genome editing tool, to extract neuron cells. As you're talking about licensing etc I am assuming you are planning to do this of your own accord. One of your biggest problems bar getting the cells on a suitable medium (bearing in mind they can't themselves undergo division), would be contamination. You would need to ensure that bacteria, fungi and other opportunists, that would be happy to contaminate your media don't make their way in to it. For this you would need a lot space, experience and equipment (as a result money), one of your most important tools would be at least a Class I cabinet, if you're feeling particularly cheap. Unfortunately the commitments of such a project make it virtually impossible to do outside of an institution. As for licensing etc I am not sure, it depends on where you are, but I can't see you needing a license or it being illegal.

 

Actually, for work with primate cell lines you need cabinets certified for BSL2 (just to nitpick as well as to maintain a modicum of safety). It is safe to say, however, that regardless of that, most amateurs are likely going to cultivate fungi.

[StringJunky]

 

Actually, for work with primate cell lines you need cabinets certified for BSL2 (just to nitpick as well as to maintain a modicum of safety). It is safe to say, however, that regardless of that, most amateurs are likely going to cultivate fungi.

Note to self: plan B, study mycology.

[Fallen Enigma]

I plan to use CRISPR to modify neurons after the extraction.

 

Ah I misunderstood this, sorry about that then.

 

 

Actually, for work with primate cell lines you need cabinets certified for BSL2 (just to nitpick as well as to maintain a modicum of safety). It is safe to say, however, that regardless of that, most amateurs are likely going to cultivate fungi.

 

I agree but I was talking more about if you were particularly feeling cheap and only wanted to protect the sample (not that I would advise it). To be honest even with experience and facilities places I know of regularly end up with contamination because someone has made a slight mistake and not adhered fully to aseptic techniques.

[RustMoth]

There's a lot of stress about keeping stuff clean.

 

That's interesting because most people that hype of bio-hacking and crispr say that "anyone can do it".

Based on this thread, apparently not

 

--- edit ---

I'm sure anyone can do basic stuff. Glowing bacteria.

But not anyone can just start brute-forcing experiments without worrying about lab hygiene

Edited January 4, 2017 by RustMoth

[CharonY]

Even that is not quite trivial, depending on whether you just simply want to grow modified E. coli or whether you actually want to modify them yourself. Half of the biohackers have no clue what they are doing, whereas the rest had at least basic education or, more likely, are somehow affiliated with experienced people involved in it. It also has certain health risks that are difficult to assess for many laympeople. For example, many media are not selective against pathogens. So if one is not careful the bottle of assumed harmless E. coli may in fact contain something far less benign. This is especially an issue when dealing with human material (even if it is your own).