This article from Science talks about cerebral organoids which are “mini-brains” no larger than an apple seed. These cerebral organoids are grown from human embryonic stem cells of semi organized knots of neural tissue that contain the rudiments of key parts of the human brain, i.e. the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex. Cerebral organoids have structures that are similar to the choroid plexus, the cerebral cortex, and the retinal tissue but do not have any blood vessels so their cells at their core dies. After about 16 days the organoid develops what appears to be the forebrain, midbrain and hind brain. As of right now they are not good models for studying complex neurodevelopmental orders like autism or schizophrenia because those cells involve more complex connections and mature cells. However, what they are good for is understanding how cells switch from proliferation to differentiation.
Warrenkevin Henderson
Brain Potluck
https://science.sciencemag.org/content/341/6149/946/tab-pdf
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