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Dr Benedikt Berninger at the Ludwig-Maximilians University of Munich believes that considering works of philosophy and art will help researchers develop new methodologies and make new discoveries that can be used in scientific research.
Recently Christophe Heinrich, Magdalena Götz, Benedikt Berninger, and others at Ludwig-Maximilians University of Munich coaxed astroglial cells—normally metabolic and structural support for the brain’s prominent players, neurons—to become neurons themselves1 (Figures 1, 2).
I asked Dr Berninger whether that means science is close to regenerating central nervous system tissue damaged by injury, dementia, or stroke. “Not yet”, he cautioned. “That is our dream, of course, yet it is exceptionally complex and there are many steps still to take—both in terms of the biology we need to understand and the way to translate it into medical therapies. What’s important now is remaining open to many ways of thinking about the next steps. That is, we must appreciate what our analyses, judgment, intuition, and experience inspire as we consider the possibilities and decisions about research projects”.
