Bank for brain tissue to bolster disease research

NEXT LEVEL: Researchers have long depended on data from abroad, which often lack an adequate sampling of Asian tissue, a bank proponent said

By Yang Yuan-ting / Staff reporter

A brain tissue bank is to be established by the end of this year to improve research and treatment of dementia and other neurodegenerative disorders, the Taiwan Brain Bank Association said yesterday.

Donated brain tissue could facilitate the research and development of medicine, former vice president Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) said at the association’s founding ceremony in Taipei.

The association was formed through the joint efforts of National Taiwan University Hospital (NTUH), the Taiwan Motor Neuron Disease Association, the Taiwan Spinocerebellar Ataxia Association and the Society for Neurological Rare Disorders, which encourage unaffected people and patients with rare diseases to donate brain tissue, said Chen, who is also an academician at Academia Sinica.

The samples would help researchers make breakthroughs in medicine, and with the aid of artificial intelligence in image analysis, Taiwan’s neuroscience research can continue to advance, he said.

The establishment of a brain tissue bank is a symbol for an advanced country, National Taiwan University vice superintendent Chang Shan-chwen (張上淳) said.

The founding of the National Eye Bank in 2013 led the nation to set standards of operation for evaluating donations, transplants and quality of corneas, he said.

Brain tissue donated by people with rare disorders would help researchers to improve their understanding of the causes of Parkinson’s disease, Chang said.

Researchers used to rely on data from overseas brain banks, but such data could not explain genetic differences between Taiwanese and Western patients, he said.

With their own brain bank, local researchers would be able to focus on the genetic expressions of Taiwanese to develop treatment and medicine more suitable for them, he said.

Unlike other tissue that can be obtained through sample testing, brain tissue can only be removed after a donor’s death, said NTUH attending neurologist Hsieh Sung-tsang (謝松蒼), who has been promoting the bank’s founding.

Brain tissue must be obtained and preserved within six hours of a donor’s death, or the tissue would become unusable due to a lack of blood circulation, he said.

Obtaining a donor’s brain tissue is a race against time, which includes contact and transportation, he said.

The nation’s medicine development relies on experimentation with animals at the preliminary stage, but due to the differences between animal and human tissue, the success rate of development is low, Hsieh said.

With the aid of human brain tissue, medicine research would hopefully be able to enter clinical trials sooner, he said.

Additional reporting by CNA