Science: the first three-dimensional organ like structure of human forebrain

January 27, 2020 / Biovalley BIOON / - -- in a new study, researchers from Stanford University in the United States first constructed a human forebrain like organ The relevant research results were published in the Science Journal on January 24, 2020, and the title of the paper is "single cell transcription diversity is a hallmark of development potential" In this paper, they describe the cultivation and application of this kind of organ Picture from science, 2020, DOI: 10.1126/science.aay1645 In most of the history of biological science, people have to use experimental animals to study the functional living brain - for ethical reasons, it is impossible to study the human brain in this way But in recent years, scientists have found a way to grow cells into clusters as substitutes for human organs, thus providing a better choice They are called organoids, and they are made from pluripotent stem cells that can differentiate into any type of human cell People use drugs and growth factors to guide them to grow into the types of organs they want to study In other studies, the brain or other nerve tissue has been cultivated - in this new study, the researchers have made further progress: inducing stem cells to grow into forebrain organs, and they live longer, which allows them to learn more about brain development As a spherical structure, human forebrain organs can self assemble into different parts of forebrain The forebrain includes the organs of the upper thalamus, thalamus, subthalamus and the hypothalamus These real organs play a key role in cognition, sensory processing and motor function As part of the study, the researchers also found a way to significantly prolong the life span of human forebrain organs (up to 300 days), enough to see them develop into more complex structures They hope that such a long period of growth will allow the study of brain diseases to develop and may find ways to prevent them Some in the field have noticed that such research is leading to moral dilemmas - how far can we go? It can be imagined that one day, scientists will be able to grow the whole human brain, the conscious brain But in this new study, the researchers are not worried about these problems They point out that their forebrain like organs are very simple compared to the human brain and have no awareness or pain So far, at least, these organs are just cell clusters (biooon Com) reference: 1 Alexandro E Trevino et al Chromium accessibility dynamics in a model of human forest development Science, 2020, doi:10.1126/science.aay1645 2.Researchers create three-dimensional organoid models of human forebrain https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-01-three-dimensional-organoid-human-forebrain.html