5 Min with...

Dr. Rafael Song

Brain Organoids + Lizard Tails + Biomimicry

May 12, 2025

Let’s introduce Dr. Rafael Song to our audience! Who are you? If you had to describe yourself in 1 sentence, what would you say?

A dedicated bioengineer trying to develop innovative translational medical devices for better healthcare in the future.

What are the most

A- Fascinating research

B- Impactful research

C- Fun and whimsical research

You are leading these days?

Fascinating research: We are building a brain organoid on a chip to understand human brain and neurodegenerative diseases in vitro.

Impactful research: A point-of-care diagnostic device for the early detection of cardiovascular diseases and various cancers.

Fun and whimsical research: Research on soft tissue fracture mechanics, such as lizard tail autotomy or lemon.

Organoids grown from skin cells… turned into neurons?! And you are testing these mini-brains for pain management and drug discovery?

Organoids are self-assembled, three-dimensional aggregates generated from pluripotent stem cells, featuring cell types and architectures that resemble those of organs at an embryonic stage. For this reason, they have emerged as novel model systems to investigate human organ development in health and disease. We are currently growing brain organoids to test various implantable devices and understand neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and autism spectrum disorders (ASD).

Lizard tails and lemons! What can they teach us about designing better materials?

There are numerous clinical needs for adhesives, such as wound closure, tissue repair, hemostasis, and fixation of implants. However, attaining optimum adhesion to soft tissues while minimizing tissue damage presents a considerable clinical challenge, especially when tissues are wet. When we turn to nature for potential solutions, natural adhesives like lizard tails demonstrate elegant and sophisticated attachment to almost any surface. These adhesives show high adhesion capabilities and can be detached quickly (tunable adhesion) and reused repeatedly. In lemon peel, we find a foam-like material in the rind that is tough to break. This material has the potential to be used in the development of a new biomaterial that can absorb shock and resist cracking.

AI…AI…AI…is AI doing anything useful in your field of bioengineering?

AI is impacting every field of engineering, including bioengineering. We expect a significant impact in healthcare-related fields, where medical images, biosignals, and omics data are analyzed and utilized for personalized medicine.

If you could design an experiment without any limitations of time or money…what would it be?

As a bioengineer, I would love to design an experiment to grow and culture any human organ synthetically.

If you could have a superhero power. What would it be?

Superhero power to understand animal languages.

Mystery dinner party…Dead or Alive, who would be 3 guests you would invite to your dinner party?

Charles Darwin, Edward Osborne Wilson, Jared Diamond

Question to you from our previous guest Dr. Michele André (Director of the Laboratory of Applied Bioacoustics, UPC): “What part of the world still speaks to you in a language you haven’t yet learned to understand?"

All animals in nature speak languages I would love to understand.

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