"It will be science when someone scans a very small brain to a very high resolution, will build a functioning simulation of that brain in a computer to such an extent that the simulation exhibits all of the traits of the original."
And that science will not happen until we have (among several things) the ability to stabilize a brain sufficiently (when no longer being used for its original purpose) to have a very high resolution scan performed and stored.
I would think getting this first part correct would be of the utmost importance. Scan resolutions will continue to improve for any number of reasons beyond this application.
It would appear that the primary subject of the OP is both quite relevant, and an important building block, allowing research to move further along this particular approach.
Given the state of computing power, this might happen first:
Become skilled at transplanting rat brains.
Raise identical twin rats.
Train one rat to run a maze.
Sacrifice the maze-running rat.
Stabilize its brain and scan it at high resolution.
Use an organ printer to create a duplicate of the rat brain from the scan.
Transplant the new brain into the living twin.
Put the chimera rat in the maze.
Observe the result.
Laugh maniacally.
What I get from reading the article and comments is that while the elements of the prize winner's solution have been available, the novelty is in their application.
Did someone already arrive at their solution, and simply not try to claim the prize money?
I don't know when it was first used, it's one of those protocols that every lab has sitting in an ancient three-ring binder. The procedure is essentially the same everywhere, with minor variations depending on the tissue you're working with, the stains, etc:
1. Knock the animal out somehow (usually isoflurane or similar)
2. Perfuse with Phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) followed by 2-5% Paraformaldehyde (PFA). You can also use glutaraldehyde, which is better for EM, while PFA is usually better for histochemistry
3. Rinse in PBS for a while
4. Drop the brains into sucrose solutions, let them sit there until they sink. Usually labs will have a few sucrose baths they like to use (e.g. start in 10%, then switch to 30%). Sucrose is the cryoprotectant here
5. Dunk in liquid nitrogen, coat with OCT, mount on cryostat and start sectioning
6. Go about your business staining, etc
The only novel thing here, really, is that they perfused the cryoprotectant instead of just letting the brains sit in it for a few days. Letting a rabbit brain soak up sucrose likely takes longer than a mouse, so perfusing would definitely speed up that step.
But it's a rather moot point, since fixed brains can chill in refrigerated PBS for a month or two. There's no rush once it's fixed ... that's the point of fixing. I'm with the other folks, this was really just a grab at some money imo. And fancy headlines. There is nothing interesting here.
Credentials: worked in neuroscience wet-lab for 5 years.
And that science will not happen until we have (among several things) the ability to stabilize a brain sufficiently (when no longer being used for its original purpose) to have a very high resolution scan performed and stored.
I would think getting this first part correct would be of the utmost importance. Scan resolutions will continue to improve for any number of reasons beyond this application.
It would appear that the primary subject of the OP is both quite relevant, and an important building block, allowing research to move further along this particular approach.