Into the Limelight

Glial cells were once considered neurons’ supporting actors, but new methods and model organisms are revealing their true importance in brain function.

| 9 min read

Register for free to listen to this article
Listen with Speechify
0:00
9:00
Share

GLIAL CELL JUNGLE: Star-like astrocytes (red) and oligodendrocytes (green) intertwine with neurons (blue) in culture.JONATHAN COHEN, NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH; COURTESY: NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATIONBy 1899, nearly 50 years after glia were discovered, Spanish neuroscientist Santiago Ramón y Cajal recognized that research on these cells was lagging behind studies on their flashier neuronal cousins. “What functional significance may we attribute to the neuroglia?” he wrote in his multivolume book Texture of the Nervous System of Man and the Vertebrates. “Unfortunately, in the present state of science it is not possible to answer this important question except through more or less rational conjectures. In the face of this problem, the physiologist is totally disarmed for lack of methods.”

Despite making up 50 to 80 percent of the cells of the human brain (estimates vary), glial cells were thought to simply provide structural integrity to the brain and to nourish and mop up after neurons. And it would be the better part of a century before Ramón y Cajal’s call for more methods to study glia was answered.

“Glia were not a major point of interest in neuroscience,” says Marc Freeman, an investigator with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) who studies fruit fly glia at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. “Neurons were the ones that fired signals. . . . Glial cells, when you plug them in, don’t do a whole lot.”

“People are saying neurons are overstudied, and glia are understudied.”—Ben ...

Interested in reading more?

Become a Member of

The Scientist Logo
Receive full access to digital editions of The Scientist, as well as TS Digest, feature stories, more than 35 years of archives, and much more!
Already a member? Login Here

Keywords

Meet the Author

  • Kate Yandell

    This person does not yet have a bio.

Published In

Share
3D illustration of a gold lipid nanoparticle with pink nucleic acid inside of it. Purple and teal spikes stick out from the lipid bilayer representing polyethylene glycol.
February 2025, Issue 1

A Nanoparticle Delivery System for Gene Therapy

A reimagined lipid vehicle for nucleic acids could overcome the limitations of current vectors.

View this Issue
Enhancing Therapeutic Antibody Discovery with Cross-Platform Workflows

Enhancing Therapeutic Antibody Discovery with Cross-Platform Workflows

sartorius logo
Considerations for Cell-Based Assays in Immuno-Oncology Research

Considerations for Cell-Based Assays in Immuno-Oncology Research

Lonza
An illustration of animal and tree silhouettes.

From Water Bears to Grizzly Bears: Unusual Animal Models

Taconic Biosciences
Sex Differences in Neurological Research

Sex Differences in Neurological Research

bit.bio logo

Products

Photo of a researcher overseeing large scale production processes in a laboratory.

Scaling Lentiviral Vector Manufacturing for Optimal Productivity

Thermo Fisher Logo
Collage-style urban graphic of wastewater surveillance and treatment

Putting Pathogens to the Test with Wastewater Surveillance

An illustration of an mRNA molecule in front of a multicolored background.

Generating High-Quality mRNA for In Vivo Delivery with lipid nanoparticles

Thermo Fisher Logo
Tecan Logo

Tecan introduces Veya: bringing digital, scalable automation to labs worldwide