This scientist is creating tiny versions of one of neuroscience’s most notorious opponents
Drug companies have poured billions into experimental treatments that can get around the blood-brain barrier. She may have a way to make their jobs easier.
In her lab at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, Choi-Fong Cho is growing tiny, balled-up versions of the blood-brain barrier, one of neuroscience’s most notorious opponents.
The barrier lines blood vessels in the brain to block foreign invaders, but it also stops most drugs from getting into the central nervous system. It’s foiled countless treatments that looked promising in animals, only to never make it into the brains of patients.
Cho wants to make the process of scouring for drugs that can cross the barrier far less — tiny bunches of brain cells — to help determine which chemicals can get into the brain.
