The CEO of Cellestial Health Dr Nat Hastings put the usual polished business pitch aside at the BioUK‘s BioTrinity 2026 to discuss an important topic:
Whether there is a scientific and economic rationale for viewing the brain as a collection of neurones and synapses.
Decades of research demonstrate that:
✦ Brain consists of many essential cell types, of which astrocytes as well as neurones form long-ranging communicating networks
✦ Both astrocytes and neurones are indispensable for normal brain function
✦ Both astrocytes and neurones respond to various stimuli with signals that influence signalling of other cells around them
✦ Both cell types suffer in disease including Parkinson’s
… and yet the absolute majority of therapeutic pipelines conceptually focus exclusively on 𝘯𝘦𝘶𝘳𝘰protection or 𝘯𝘦𝘶𝘳𝘰modulation, assuming that if we restored functions of one half of the brain composed of neurones, the disease can be cured.
Are we overlooking an essential opportunity to offer disease modification which can come from shifting our perspective from neuron-centric to brain cell-inclusive approaches, where 𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰protection matters equally?
Reach out to find out more.
Photo credit: Richard Unwin, Roona Deb