Slashdot Mirror


Brain Cells Made From Urine

Press2ToContinue writes "Scientists have found a relatively straightforward way to persuade the cells discarded in human urine to turn into valuable neurons. The technique, described online in a study in Nature Methods this week (abstract), does not involve embryonic stem cells. These come with serious drawbacks when transplanted, such as the risk of developing tumors. Instead, the method uses ordinary cells present in urine, and transforms them into neural progenitor cells — the precursors of brain cells. Researchers routinely reprogram cultured skin and blood cells into induced pluripotent stem cells, which can go on to form any cell in the body. But urine is a much more accessible source."

116 comments

  1. Summing up... by Kergan · · Score: 5, Funny

    The future might include pee brains in addition to pea brains.

    1. Re:Summing up... by ozmanjusri · · Score: 5, Funny

      No problem. Us Aussies have always been piss-heads.

      --
      "I've got more toys than Teruhisa Kitahara."
    2. Re:Summing up... by Jeremiah+Cornelius · · Score: 5, Funny

      Brain cells made from urine?

      I'm pretty sure I used to work for that guy. ;-)

      --
      "Flyin' in just a sweet place,
      Never been known to fail..."
    3. Re:Summing up... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      and p-branes!

    4. Re:Summing up... by azalin · · Score: 3, Funny

      No Bear Grylls jokes yet?

    5. Re:Summing up... by rolfwind · · Score: 5, Funny

      Shit for brains is coming soon.

    6. Re:Summing up... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The future might include pee brains in addition to pea brains.

      P for politician?

    7. Re:Summing up... by mwvdlee · · Score: 5, Funny

      I guess those golden shower perverts were on to something after all.

      --
      Slashdot social media options: AIM, ICQ, Yahoo, Jabber and Mobile Text. Why no MySpace?
    8. Re:Summing up... by davester666 · · Score: 2

      It's what Coors AND Budweiser is made of.

      --
      Sleep your way to a whiter smile...date a dentist!
    9. Re:Summing up... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      good lord man.

      Get the fuck out right now.

    10. Re:Summing up... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      The future might include pee brains in addition to pea brains.

      P for politician?

      Yes, politicians, now we can make them smarter by peeing in their heads.

    11. Re:Summing up... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      I hear that you have to consume a quantity of beer before the procedure, to up the number of dead brain cells in your urine.

    12. Re:Summing up... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The future might include pee brains in addition to pea brains.

      P for politician?

      And le sueur for pea.

    13. Re:Summing up... by c0lo · · Score: 2

      The future might include pee brains in addition to pea brains.

      That's nothing... see when they'll come with dung-heads.

      --
      Questions raise, answers kill. Raise questions to stay alive.
    14. Re:Summing up... by Ginger+Unicorn · · Score: 3, Funny

      I've heard of stem cell therapy, but this is taking the piss...

      --
      (1.21 gigawatts) / (88 miles per hour) = 30 757 874 newtons
    15. Re:Summing up... by reboot246 · · Score: 2, Funny

      No need to wait. They're already here. See Washington D.C. for the best examples.

    16. Re:Summing up... by durrr · · Score: 2

      I'm pretty sure they filter it to ensure they serve only the purest of piss.

    17. Re:Summing up... by TechieRefugee · · Score: 2

      It's still a piss-poor procedure when compared to this!

    18. Re:Summing up... by cayenne8 · · Score: 1

      Well, I guess with the old saying about someone having "shit for brains" was at least close.....

      --
      Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
    19. Re:Summing up... by Bill_the_Engineer · · Score: 1

      Don't get pissed.

      --
      These comments are my own and do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of my employer or colleagues...
    20. Re:Summing up... by gagol · · Score: 1

      More like, abuse of it, make you leak liquid neurons...

      --
      Tomorrow is another day...
    21. Re:Summing up... by Impy+the+Impiuos+Imp · · Score: 1

      Oh, it's "pee brain". I always thought it was "pea brain".

      --
      (-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
    22. Re:Summing up... by operagost · · Score: 2

      Got brain damage; better drink my own piss.

      Happy?

      --

      Gamingmuseum.com: Give your 3D accelerator a rest.
    23. Re:Summing up... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I have heard of "shit for brains" but piss too? I think this research just stinks.

  2. Doh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I just pissed myself stupid.

  3. Piss for brains? by george14215 · · Score: 1

    Sorry that's all I've got...

    1. Re:Piss for brains? by edelbrp · · Score: 4, Funny

      Don't joke! It leaves us only an inch away from shit for brains.

    2. Re:Piss for brains? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      An inch? For females, right? Come on!

      Naturally, you never took any science courses while attending one of the largest publicly-funded research universities in North America. If you did, you would know that urine and feces come within an inch of each other in both males and females.

      What exactly did you study at the university, after all? Youtube didn't even exist yet, so you couldn't have spent all your time watching youtube videos of your church leader like you do now, and you obviously did not successfully study economics (or even basic math) either.

    3. Re:Piss for brains? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

      Might leave you only one inch away, but for me it's about eight.

    4. Re:Piss for brains? by interkin3tic · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Not to step on the joke, but while your feces do have a lot of your cells in them, they're mostly dead cells which would be useless for induced pluripotency. Furthermore, I've heard it's about one third bacteria, so you'd have contamination problems. Urine, on the other hand, is much more sterile and free from bacteria, and it would presumably be much easier to spin down urine and collect living cells than it would be to separate cells out from feces.

      Most importantly, the reason they were using urine was not to make brain cells from weird places, they had previously discovered that kidney cells took much less time to turn pluripotent than some other cell types, such as skin cells. I'd assume that colon cells wouldn't have this advantage even if you did isolate them living from poop. And I'm not going to test that hypothesis either...

    5. Re:Piss for brains? by cfulton · · Score: 1

      Thank you for your serious and thoughtful comment. You piss head. (now technically that was a complement)

      --
      No sigs in BETA. Beta SUCKS.
    6. Re:Piss for brains? by gstoddart · · Score: 1

      Don't joke! It leaves us only an inch away from shit for brains.

      Speak for yourself. ;-)

      --
      Lost at C:>. Found at C.
    7. Re:Piss for brains? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Had taken a logic course you would have known that your small penis doesn't imply that all researchers have a small penis. I bet udachny's church leader know more logic than you do.

  4. So then... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "Shit for brains" isn't really that far from true.

  5. Woe betide the people who benefit from this... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ... as they will be known as... pee brains!

  6. Well, woman have always accused me... by Ardx · · Score: 5, Funny

    ...of thinking with my penis. Guess who's just got the last laugh now?

    --
    Whoa there dude! Check your keyboard, somebody might have slipped you a Dvorak.
    1. Re:Well, woman have always accused me... by adolf · · Score: 0

      Rather, this just validates a simple truth: My penis thinks for me, and I'm OK with that,

      (Disclaimer: I'm married, and have been for darn near a decade, and we understand that her penis is larger than mine -- even if hers cannot be seen. Furthermore, she doesn't care where my penis goes, while also encouraging it to go places it has not yet been. YMM unfortunately V...)

    2. Re:Well, woman have always accused me... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      Wow. This went from a rather cheerful and funny discussion about pee brains to a rather disturbing self-gratifying statement on your penis going places its never gone before, like Spock and Kirk in a dark place.

    3. Re:Well, woman have always accused me... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'm pretty sure he's talking about getting STDs.

  7. I am pissed by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Trepanation. Urination. Weeeeeeee.

  8. The circle is now complete. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    Alcohol kills brain cells. Beer makes you pee. Finally, we're close to making this a zero-sum game. Cheers!

  9. Only problem ... by maxwell+demon · · Score: 2

    Only problem: The brains made of those neurons always feel pissed ...

    --
    The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
    1. Re:Only problem ... by sirlark · · Score: 1

      You see this as a problem ... I see this as an opportunity!

    2. Re:Only problem ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Very different meaning of "pissed" in British vs. American English...

  10. A real revelation by Grayhand · · Score: 1, Insightful

    We finally have scientific explanation for the deficit and the fiscal cliff.

  11. It's a bright future. by klingers48 · · Score: 5, Funny

    Where "getting pissed" means an injection of new brain cells, not killing the ones you already have.

  12. Piss for brain ? by obarthelemy · · Score: 2

    This sounds wrong. But I'm shuddering to think what step #2 might be

    --
    The Cloud - because you don't care if your apps and data are up in the air.
    1. Re:Piss for brain ? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This sounds wrong. But I'm shuddering to think what step #2 might be

      That's the part where you shudder your penis after pissing into the scientist's bowl.

    2. Re:Piss for brain ? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      This sounds wrong. But I'm shuddering to think what step #2 might be

      That's the part where you shudder your penis after pissing into the scientist's bowl.

      We use beakers you insensitive clod.

  13. Naturally by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    A dictionary couldn't give meaning to your pathetic life you piss for brains!

  14. Free as in beer by flyingfsck · · Score: 4, Funny

    So now brain cells can be free as in beer too...

    --
    Excuse me, but please get off my Pennisetum Clandestinum, eh!
    1. Re:Free as in beer by gtall · · Score: 2

      I want to see Mr. PeeBrain, run on a single AA battery. You take Mr. PeeBrain into the bar, and down a few pints. Plug in Mr. PeeBrain (discreetly, of course), and whallah, any brain cells you lost to the alcohol in the beer have now been replaced by New and Improved brain cells automatically reinjected into your brain.

  15. I'm pissing! FOR SCIENCE! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    ...so where I can sign up to sell my urine now?

  16. v2 will be shit for brains by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Why not?

  17. Changing Times by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Now I'll know my teachers were actually being optimistic when they called me a piss head.

  18. Jokes aside by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    How long before humans become nearly valueless because our components can be assembled from raw materials?

    A human is the definition of "conscious" away from being worth as much as the atoms that put us together. I'm as big a fan of urine-brain jokes as the next guy, but for the sake of individuality let's all hope the theory of emergent consciousness is so much horseshit, yeah? Otherwise, you might very well be worth less than your weight in printer ink.

    1. Re:Jokes aside by Stormy+Dragon · · Score: 1

      Humans are already assembled from raw materials over the course of about nine months...

    2. Re:Jokes aside by mark-t · · Score: 1

      Heck, do you know how much your weight in printer ink would cost???

      A cursory examination of current retail prices at nation-wide computer and electronics stores, and then working out the cost per unit of weight brings it to around $45 per ounce. That makes the average adult worth over $100,000!

  19. Soo... by phagstrom · · Score: 1

    Will "pissed" mean "smart" in the future?

    Oh....and the average public toilet is apparently a smart room.

  20. And to think that... by unixisc · · Score: 1

    ... we've been pissing away all those neurons since... forever?

  21. Are you taking the piss? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Like, literally?

  22. Bear Grylls by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Does this make Bear Grylls a zombie because he drinks his own urine?

  23. Name by fph+il+quozientatore · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I suggest the name "reverse alcohol" for this methodology.

    --
    My first program:

    Hell Segmentation fault

  24. Donating material by GNUThomson · · Score: 1

    I have always supported research. I'm ready to donate samples.

  25. What could we do with mass-produced neurons? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    If this is for real, it may provide a (relatively) cheap source of neurons for biotech industry research.
    Mass-production may be feasible once there is a product to industrialize.
    Anybody know what's cooking on the bio-chips front nowadays?

  26. And the Lord said.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    ...
    42. ...Thou shall not take of the piss that thou'st passeth after a heavy night at the inn and make of it an addition to thine body, or use it to adorn thyself, or for any medical purpose whatsoever.

    43. For the Lord thy God is a fastidious god, and does not like to see people messing around with things that are iccky. Nor does he want to give an opportunity for the unbelievers of Phillistine and Gath to make stupid puns about 'taking the piss'. Thine body is made in the image of the Lord, and if He had wanted you to employ the spillings of thy loins to improve thy brain, he would have made thy member long enough to place in thine ear. Nor yet shall ye retain this water in any kind of receptacle, lest ye be tempted by Satan to do what is unclean, but ye shall cast it out onto unshriven ground, where the dogs may smell it as they please.

    44. And Abraham spoke and said unto the Lord: "Lo, thy words are as a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path. But what shall our brethren do if they are caught short at a party and cannot reach a station of comfort? Or, as it may be, some of thy handmaidens are already in there and taking their time about coming out?

    45. Then the Lord waxed exceeding wroth, and swore at Abraham, saying "Thou dissembler! It is not for the likes of thee to question my instructions! Should you try to catch out the Lord thy God again, thy throat will catch fire, and not one of thy tribe shall be found who may pee in your mouth....

    from the third Book of Emissions (Golden Showers edition)..

    1. Re:And the Lord said.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Er... this is for the Baptist southern states, right..? You're giving them a useful religious reference so that they can ban this technology before it starts?

      So, can you give me a reference for this document? Looks like it may have a lot of other interesting stuff in it...

  27. Wisdom In The Ages by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Where I come from, people with, um, lower than expected levels of smarts are described as having "piss for brains..." Looks like they're the ones who'll be having the last laugh

  28. Peepun by brisk0 · · Score: 1

    Every post I can currently see is a pun. Every. Single. One. What have you done OP? What have you done!?

    1. Re:Peepun by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Every post I can currently see is a pun. Every. Single. One. What have you done OP? What have you done!?

      Indeed. I came here with exactly one mod point remaining, and there's not a single post worthy of an up-vote IMO.

  29. Skynet... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    On December 21 in 2012 it gained self-awareness, and it was pissed.

  30. Good job they ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ... didn't make it out of faeces, because that would've been a shit idea :)

  31. Well, then... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Does that mean those "I piss excellence" t-shirts might actually be taken literally from now on?

  32. Urine therapy no longer pseudocience by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Urine therapy no longer pseudocience, now has cientific method backup. Well it's more complex than tricksters preach. That really piss my mind.

  33. In all seriousness... by wbr1 · · Score: 1

    ....when your brain trauma or spinal cord injury is repaired by this method, how can you possibly be pissed off?

    --
    Silence is a state of mime.
  34. A nice excuse to drink more beer by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Thus drinking beer can actually produce more brain cells.

    Cheers!

  35. I'm god's present to pharmacy! by Opportunist · · Score: 2

    After the revelation that stuff in semen halts aging, now stuff in piss creates brain cells.

    Ladies, here's proof, anything coming out of my dick is good for you!

    --
    We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    1. Re:I'm god's present to pharmacy! by meetpi · · Score: 2

      Ladies, here's proof, anything coming out of my dick is good for you!

      *crickets*

    2. Re:I'm god's present to pharmacy! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Crickets are coming out of your dick? Sounds painful, you should get that checked!

  36. Raj Narayan & Morarji Desai were pioneers! by 140Mandak262Jamuna · · Score: 1

    Former Prime Minister of India Morarji Desai and his side kick and Minister of Health Raj Narayan were pioneers ahead of their times, it looks like. They were practitioners of auto urine therapy.

    --
    sed -e 's/Chuck Norris/Rajnikant/g' joke > fact
  37. Great! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Salvation for those who feel we have pissed away our education. It can be recovered!

  38. gives whole new meaning by zakeria · · Score: 1

    to piss head!

  39. Back up a sec ... embryonic stem cells can ... by fygment · · Score: 1

    turn in to tumors?! And that's a known hazard?? That's a bit of info I never read in all the articles I've seen here that are 'pro' embryonic stem cell research/use.

    --
    "Consensus" in science is _always_ a political construct.
    1. Re:Back up a sec ... embryonic stem cells can ... by deathlyslow · · Score: 2

      They can turn into almost any other cell so why not. All a tumor is is a bunch of otherwise normal cells gone wacko.

      --
      Don't blame me for redundant posts. I can't type very fast. Hence the user ID.
  40. Well... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This seems to be a really piss-poor idea.

  41. Paradoxically, the research was done by one ... by strangeintp · · Score: 0

    Dr. Pei!

  42. Their next project of course... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Shit for Brains

  43. I always tell her by drainbramage · · Score: 3, Informative

    It's okay to point.
    Just don't laugh.

    --
    No brain, no pain.
  44. So that means by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ... every time I take a piss it's brain drain?

  45. Urine used for new brain cells? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    http://i0.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/214/182/grylls.jpg?1323320727

    Better think my own piss.

  46. What a... by Kinthelt · · Score: 1

    Dickhead.

    --

    "Evil will always triumph over good, because good is dumb." - Dark Helmet (Spaceballs)

  47. Not good. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Talk about a brain that will make some piss poor decisions.

    1. Re:Not good. by hackwrench · · Score: 1

      No, this is talking about a brain that is making piss-rich decisions.

  48. A shower worth its weight in gold ... by tgd · · Score: 1

    A golden shower, one might say.

  49. Showing promise so far by davidbrit2 · · Score: 2

    Granted, they've only been able to create a Youtube commenter as of yet, but there's still a lot of untapped potential.

  50. Irony by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The most important thing everyone is missing is the researcher involved with this his name is "Pei," and I know it's pronounced "Pay" with a long A, but it does look like "Pee," or if we just use his last initial. But not matter what I really do think this is cool stuff.

  51. Somebody is.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ....taking the piss

  52. Just by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Wow.. 92 comments and so far not one about the reported science. Slashdot's maturity level has me gobsmacked.

  53. Too many steps involved by theillien · · Score: 1

    Call me when they figure out how to directly translate a gin and tonic to brain cells.

  54. This bomb's about to blow! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    MacGuyver: Hmm, I have a paperclip and rubber band, but no chewing gum...need to think....Quick! Someone pee on me!

  55. Another technology only the rich can afford by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Great. While we regular folks live our boring lives the rich can now pay to have cells filtered from their pis and turned into neurons. Who thinks this will be covered by health care insurance of any kind?

  56. Sh*t for Brains by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Kinda gives a new reality to Sh*t for Brains!

  57. Classic Python -- Blood Bank Skit by Suffering+Bastard · · Score: 4, Informative

    Samson: (John Cleese) Blood donors that way, please.
    Donor: Oh, thank you very much.
    Samson: Thank you.
    Grimshaw: (Eric Idle) (whispering)
    Samson: What?
    Grimshaw: (whispering)
    Samson: No, no. I'm sorry, but 'no'.
    Grimshaw: (whispering)
    Samson: No, you may not give urine instead of blood.
    Grimshaw: (whispering)
    Samson: No. Well, I don't care if you want to.
    Grimshaw: (whispering)
    Samson: No. There is no such thing as a urine bank.
    Grimshaw: Please.
    Samson: No. We have no call for it. We've quite enough of it without volunteers coming in here donating it.
    Grimshaw: Just a specimen?
    Samson: No. We don't want a specimen. We either want your blood or nothing.
    Grimshaw: I'll give you some blood if you'll give me...
    Samson: What?
    Grimshaw: ...a thing to do some urine in.
    Samson: No, no. Just go away, please.
    Grimshaw: Anyway, I don't want to give you any blood.
    Samson: Fine. Well, you don't have to, you see. Just go away.
    Grimshaw: Can I give you some spit?
    Samson: No.
    Grimshaw: Sweat?
    Samson: No.
    Grimshaw: Ear wax?
    Samson: No. Look, this is a blood bank. All we want is blood.
    Grimshaw: All right. I'll give you some blood. (produces some blood in a jar)
    Samson: Where did you get that?
    Grimshaw: Today. It's today's.
    Samson: What group is it?
    Grimshaw: What groups are there?
    Samson: There's 'A',--
    Grimshaw: It's 'A'.
    Samson: (sniffs blood) Wait a moment. It's mine. This blood is mine! What are you doing with it?
    Grimshaw: I found it.
    Samson: You found it?! You stole it out of my body, didn't you?
    Grimshaw: No.
    Samson: No wonder I'm feeling off-colour. (drinks from bottle, Grimshaw takes it from his hands) Give that back!
    Grimshaw: It's mine.
    Samson: It's not yours. You stole it.
    Grimshaw: Never.
    Samson: Give it back to me.
    Grimshaw: All right...but only if I can give urine.
    Samson: Get in the queue...

    --
    "Molest me not with this pocket calculator stuff."
    - Deep Thought
    1. Re:Classic Python -- Blood Bank Skit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      LMAO. And I very rarely LMAO, especially to the point of replying that I LMAO-ed. Oh! Uh, I think I just gave a pint.

    2. Re:Classic Python -- Blood Bank Skit by ChrisMaple · · Score: 2

      Historically inaccurate. Human urine was used in ancient Rome as an industrial chemical.

      --
      Contribute to civilization: ari.aynrand.org/donate
    3. Re:Classic Python -- Blood Bank Skit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And everywhere else leather was tanned.

  58. What? Wait. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I've heard of shit-for-brains, but "piss-for-brains"? True innovation.

  59. Brain cells made from Urine... by Deefburger · · Score: 1

    A study of congressmen and women has determined that their brain cells are made from urine. Until this study it was assumed they had no brains or, if a brain existed, then it was made of feces. But the newest studies show that the brain cells of congress, and quite possibly all other government personnel worldwide are made from urine. Where the urine comes from is still a mystery, however it's effectiveness as brain material is still considered to be quite low. "We knew their heads had to be full of something besides feces." a scientist associated with the new study stated.

    --
    Most people are mostly good most of the time.
  60. back in junior high, by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    you had shit for brains

  61. reply by newnewshop · · Score: 1

    this news sound so incredible. but one day ,it brings out that, the news is feasible. Is this not a solution to solve the tumor problem.

  62. You want me to make brains from urine? by Dabido · · Score: 1

    As easy as p!$$! (As the Aussie slang goes).

    --
    Sure enough, the cow costume was hanging up next to the superhero outfit and sailors uniform. (S,Spud)
  63. Re:I guess those golden shower perverts were on to by DanielBMS · · Score: 1

    Who are you calling perverted?