GIST Professor Myung-Han Yoon and SNU Professor Byung Hee Hong collaborated to develop the world's first artificial brain structure

□ Professor Myung-Han Yoon of the School of Materials Science and Engineering at the Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology (GIST • President Seung Hyeon Moon) and Professor Byung Hee Hong of Seoul National University have  of Seoul National University succeeded in identifying the microstructure and macroscopic structure of bacterial cellulose by using nanocarbon structures .

□ In order to realize the artificial brain, a scaffold for nerve cell growth plays an important role. Conventional artificial brain research mainly used proteins such as collagen or matrigel, but the possibility of immune response in bio-implantation and the collapse of protein over time remained a technical difficulty.

□ The team successfully lowered the crystallinity and macroscopic asymmetry of the synthesized fibrin hydrogel by controlling the movement of the bacteria that make the fibrin hydrogel when the graphene-based nanocarbon structure is properly dispersed in the bacterial cell culture fluid.

∘ The bacterial fibrin hydrogel gel structure hybridized with oxidized graphene facilitated the three-dimensional growth of neurons and enabled the connectivity of organized neurons. Through this process, the researchers succeeded in realizing a 3D artificial neural network that simulates the actual brain structure of animals.

□ Recently, the perception of animal experiments has been changed by a stronger consciousness awareness of bioethics, and artificial three-dimensional cell cultures that artificially simulate organs of actual animals are being sought to reduce ethical issues.

□ The results of this study suggest that artificial simulation of 3D brain structures will help improve medical research for an ever aging population, such as Alzheimer's or Parkinson's disease, artificial brain tissue production, or regeneration of damaged central nervous system cells.

□ GIST Professor Myung-Han Yoon said, "This study is very meaningful in terms of inducing bacteria to produce new materials using nanomaterials rather than existing genetic manipulation methods." SNU Professor Byung Hee Hong said, "The developed oxidized graphene-bacterial fibrin hydrogel is expected to be used not only for nerve tissue regeneration but also for three-dimensional simulation of various tissues."

□ This study was funded by the GIST Research Institute (GRI) and also by the Pioneer Research Center Program and Nano-Material Technology Development Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea funded by the Ministry of Science, ICT, and Future Planning. Their paper entitled "Multiscale Modulation of Nanocrystalline Cellulose Hydrogel via Nanocarbon Hybridization for 3D Neuronal Bilayer Formation" was authored by Dongyoon Kim, Subeom Park, Insu Jo, Seong-Min Kim, Dong Hee Kang, Sung-Pyo Cho, Jong Bo Park, Byung Hee Hong, and Myung-Han Yoon and was selected as a cover article of the journal Small on May 22, 2017.