Stanford Transplants Lab-Grown Human Brain Tissue into Mice
The human grafts grew larger, formed functional neural networks and affected memory and motor behavior, researchers said.
- On Wednesday, Stanford University neuroscientists published a study in Nature describing a new method for growing human brain organoids inside genetically engineered mice.
- Previous attempts failed because rodent cells outcompeted human grafts; neuroscientist Sergiu Pașca and his Stanford University team solved this by engineering mice lacking specific cerebral cortex and hippocampus structures.
- In 25 of 29 attempts, human tissue filled more than 90% of the vacant space, forming specialized neurons including rare von Economo cells never before grown in a dish.
- These chimeric animals provide a platform to study cerebral palsy and frontotemporal dementia; Pașca noted human cortical cells appear to restore lost functions in the grafted mice.
- Experts like Nita Farahany of Duke Law emphasize ethical caution as the team deliberately halted experiments before human cells formed consciousness markers, noting this work "brings us into new gray areas.
108 Articles
108 Articles
Animals could help reveal the causes of brain disease in humans and point the way to treatments. But researchers are already asking for new ethical guidelines.
Scientists have used cultured human brain cells in mice' brains, hoping for a better study of diseases. The study raises ethical questions.
Research into the living human brain is difficult. According to a research team, a new way to observe certain processes in the brain is found: they transplant human brain cells grown in the laboratory into mouse skulls.
Stanford Scientists Grow Vast Human Brain Tissue in Mice, Raising Fresh Questions About Consciousness and Disease Research
Stanford researchers created mice whose cortex is 92% human-derived tissue grown from stem cells. The grafts integrated, formed rare neuron types, and improved memory deficits. The advance promises better disease models but sparks fresh ethical debate over animal consciousness.
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