An anonymous man with schizophrenia donated a biopsy of is skin cells to research before committing suicide at the age of twenty two. The biopsy cells eventually reprogrammed and developed into neurons, giving scientists a better look at what are being called mental illnesses "in a dish." These mental illnesses "in a dish" come about by taking a biopsy of skin cells and having them reprogrammed to an embryonic-like state so that they can form into any type of tissue. Recreating cells with schizophrenia or other types of mental disorders in quite difficult for researchers due to the fact that no scientists have determined, to this day, the underlying biological causes of most mental disorders. Since researchers figured out how to create "cocktails" of certain genes to reprogram them to an embryonic-like state, these cells have been going under immense study so that researchers can identify what goes wrong in their development that leads to a disorder. Recent studies comparing reprogrammed cells from individuals with schizophrenia and reprogrammed cells from mentally healthy individuals show that the neurons from the schizophrenic individuals appear to make less connections or synapses with other neurons. However, the study also showed that the neurons from schizophrenic individuals conduct electrical impulses just the same as the cells from individuals without a psychiatric disorder. The studies also showed that a drug called loxapine used to treat schizophrenia boosted the number of synapses in the neurons that were reprogrammed from skin cells in the schizophrenic individuals. The research team reported that there were no other drugs out of the other four that were experimented with that had consistent results, but each drug worked for at least one schizophrenic individual's cells. The team also reported that there was a difference in gene expression between the healthy individuals and the ones with schizophrenia and it is possible that the biological underlying cause of these mental disorders has something to do with changed gene expressions. Determining this biological cause of schizophrenia is still a long ways away however as researchers have studied many different cases and concluded that the disorder arises in individuals due to a combination of different genetic and environmental causes. While these studies are still developing and the research going into these reprogrammed skin cells is still new, researchers are optimistic and believe it is currently the best hope for identifying the underlying fundamental defects of these mental diseases.
With technology and medicine improving on a daily basis in the world today in advanced countries such as the United States, it is not outrageous to think that scientists may soon determine what causes mental disorders. This article talks about how technology has improved the methods in which we look at mental disease such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Particularly in this article, scientists look at schizophrenia in a way many people have never heard of. Researchers have figured out how to take basic skin cells through a biopsy and reprogram them into cells that can develop into neurons. Thus, when these researchers take the skin cells of individuals who have been diagnosed with schizophrenia, the preprogrammed skin cells can eventually develop into neurons that develop with schizophrenia. This new information is relevant to the world today because of how many mental disorders affect such a large number of people. When articles such as this one are released to the public eye, it proves that researchers are working on finding answers to the biological mysteries that are present today. The information presented within the article shows readers that researchers still have a ways to go in determining the underlying causes of psychiatric disorders; however, shows that technology has gone a long way and if it continues to improve and advance, then there is a very good chance that researchers will easily find the biological causes of mental disorders.
This article's title made me read it in the first place because I wanted to know what the article meant by "Schizophrenia 'in a dish.'" The article and its content had be quite interested because I was unaware of the fact that researchers have been harvesting cells from individuals with psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia in dishes in order to reprogram them and study their development as they develop into cells such as those of the brain, or neurons. The studies presented within this article make it clear that scientists are making great strides towards finding the fundamental defects that result in mental disorders, which is another reason I found the article so interesting. One piece of information that I found particularly interesting and which was also a basis of the entire article was the fact that researchers take a biopsy of individuals' skin cells and preprogram them into an embryonic state. Once the skin cells are in this embryonic state, they can develop into any type of cell and in the cases within the article, those types of cells were often neurons because schizophrenia is a disorder of the mind and brain. The fact that scientists can reprogram basic skin cells into an embryonic state makes it seem like researchers are basically capable of creating stem cells out of cells such as skin cells. If a cell in this embryonic state is not exactly the same as a stem cell, then it sounds particularly close, which goes to show that scientists may also be making great strides towards determining a method for turning basic body cells such as those of the skin, which are easily accessed, and turning them into stem cells. And as most people in advanced countries such as the United States know, stem cells are highly valued in the medical world because of their ability to develop into any type of cell in the body. Therefore, this article not only presented me with information and had never previously heard of before, but it also made me aware of how advanced science is today and the efforts that are being made towards finding cures and answers to the biological questions that remain unanswered to this day.
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