Complex human brain tissue has been successfully developed in a three-dimensional culture system established in an Austrian laboratory. The method described in the current issue of Nature allows pluripotent stem cells to develop into cerebral organoids - or “mini brains” - that consist of several discrete brain regions. Instead of using so-called patterning growth factors to achieve this, scientists at the renowned Institute of Molecular Biotechnology (IMBA) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (OeAW) fine-tuned growth conditions and provided a conducive environment. As a result, intrinsic cues from the stem cells guided the development towards different interdependent brain tissues. Using the “mini brains”, the scientists were also able to model the development of a human neuronal disorder and identify its origin - opening up routes to long hoped-for model systems of the human brain.
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