Neuron researchers turn to talking chips
Studies could aid patients with brain, spine injuries

September 2, 2002

By LEAH ETLING-STENTZEL
NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER

Biotech -- domain of complicated science with huge potential for human impact -- doesn't get much more interesting than this.

UCSB scientist Ratneshwar Lal is a lead researcher on a project to produce computer chips outside the body that imitate the impulses of the body's neurons, the functional part of the nervous system, allowing for the
potential regrowth of damaged connections.

The potential implications for medicine are enormous: Replacement of neuronal pathways could lead to better lives for those who have suffered brain, spine or other injuries.

"The chip can mimic the behavior of neurons to overcome the deficit that exists there," said Dr. Lal, an associate research biologist in the university's Neuroscience Research Institute.

He is working with Dr. Luke Lee, a bioengineering professor from UC Berkeley.

Scientists disagree on whether neurons of the central nervous system and their connections can be regenerated naturally. Until a human body reaches adulthood, neuron structures continue to grow.

The body contains trillions of neurons, and 1,000 trillion connections between them that control how we move and function. Measuring just 10 to 50 microns across --a micron measuring one thousandth of a millimeter --
the power of an individual neuron is useless in the regeneration process.

But by imitating the output of several hundred neurons, the Integrated Micro Patch-clamp Array Chip could talk to the brain from outside the body, according to researchers. Essentially, a machine would tell the
undamaged neurons what to do.

The project has obtained two grants to help complete its work, $318,649 from the UC system's BioSTAR project and $460,000 from biotech company Advanced Bio Technologies of Santa Barbara.

Advanced Bio Technologies stands much to gain by contributing to the work of Dr. Lal and his team. Its contribution allows an inroad to eventually producing and selling the technology.

Company representatives could not be reached for comment.

The chip may also have another benefit. Dr. Lal says it could be a tool for testing how the body's cells react to chemical compounds that might be placed in new drugs.

"It'll save time and resources involved in screening drug molecules" and could help get new medicines on the market faster, he said.

By far, the most difficult part of the work is determining whether it is possible to regrow damaged connections between neurons. If that could happen, devastating diseases like paralysis might be cured.

But Dr. Lal cautions that such regrowth may not even be possible. "Our chore is to see if we can regrow (the connections) in any particular direction," he said. "There's a potential for treatments using our
system, but it largely depends on who is spending money and time."

Dr. Stuart Feinstein, director of the Neuroscience Research Institute, said one of Dr. Lal's research strengths is using integrating biochemical and biophysical approaches to understand the most intricate workings of the
body.

Dr. Lal has also worked on treatments for Alzheimer's disease, cancer and heart disease.

He's received many corporate and government grants to support his work. Before coming to UCSB in 1994, he worked at the University of Chicago's Department of Medicine.

He will spend the next six months as a visiting professor in Australia, where the University of Technology in Sydney has asked him to contribute to development of their biotechnology program.

But Dr. Lal, 46, isn't worried that other researchers working on similar projects will get ahead during his leave.

"Nobody has the system we are putting together," he said.