Repairing the brain?

What if our brains could repair themselves?

This dream is still out of reach for humans... But for a small tropical fish, the zebrafish, it's already a reality!

At the Institut Pasteur, Nicolas Dray, a researcher in the Zebrafish Neurogenetics Unit headed by Laure Bally-Cuif, is studying this fascinating phenomenon: the zebrafish brain is capable of completely regenerating itself after injury in just a few weeks.

In this fish, neural stem cells cover the entire brain and continuously produce new neurons.

In humans, these cells also exist, but only in a small region called the hippocampus—and they become dormant over time.

Using microscopy and artificial intelligence, Laure Bally-Cuif's team is deciphering the mechanisms that allow cells to remain active in fish, in the hope of learning how to reawaken our own stem cells to repair damaged or aging brains.

Microscopy credits: the entire team at the Zebrafish Neurogenetics Unit
Zebrafish photo credit: François Gardy / Institut Pasteur

(video in french, english subtitles available translated by AI)