{"id":853231,"date":"2026-09-19T12:32:21","date_gmt":"2026-09-19T12:32:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/853231\/"},"modified":"2026-09-19T12:32:21","modified_gmt":"2026-09-19T12:32:21","slug":"stanford-scientists-grow-human-brain-tissue-inside-lab-mice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/853231\/","title":{"rendered":"Stanford scientists grow human brain tissue inside lab mice"},"content":{"rendered":"

Scientists at Stanford University<\/a> successfully transplanted lab-grown human brain tissue into mice, opening up new research into brain disorders.<\/p>\n

In the study published in Nature<\/a>, researchers said lab-grown parts of the brain called cortical organoids were placed into specially grown bioengineered lab mice<\/a> that had been bred with most of their cerebral cortex missing, Stanford Medicine<\/a> reported.<\/p>\n

The cortical organoids are \u201cthree-dimensional laboratory cultures resembling specific regions of the brain.\u201d created by transforming human skin cells into stem cells that can \u201cdifferentiate into most of the body\u2019s cell types.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Dashed white lines outline the graft, and colors indicate the main fiber direction: green, top to bottom; red, front to back; and blue, side to side. via REUTERS<\/p>\n

A medical research scientist examines laboratory mice and looks at tissue samples under a microscope in a laboratory. Gorodenkoff \u2013 stock.adobe.com<\/p>\n

These cells eventually formed clusters of brain tissue that replicated the circuitry found in the cerebral cortex.<\/p>\n

Officials said the brain tissue not only survived in the mice but \u201cthrived and grew,\u201d developing \u201cworking connections to the mice\u2019s brain and beyond to the spinal cord.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Xenocortical mice are shown three to six months after transplant surgery, when their performance on behavioral tests was generally similar to that of their same-age normal peers. stanford.edu<\/p>\n

Images included in the report showed how the mice, which were bred with part of their cerebrum missing, had a full brain after the cortical organoid transplant.<\/p>\n

The senior author of the study, Professor Sergiu Pasca, celebrated the successful transplant, the Daily Mail<\/a> reported.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn these mice, the human grafts generated a broad diversity of cortical cell types and established functional connections throughout the mouse nervous system,\u201d Pasca said of the \u201cxenocortical\u201d mice.<\/p>\n

A cross-section MRI scan through a xenocortical mouse brain shows a map of estimated nerve-fiber pathways and directions. stanford.edu<\/p>\n

\u201cThese animals retain a mouse nervous system, but they contain a larger volume of human cortical tissue that develops, integrates and forms connections within it.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey are not miniature brains and do not reproduce the full complexity of the human brain, but they allow us to study human neural cell types and developmental processes that would otherwise be extremely difficult to access.\u201d<\/p>\n

Researchers said this will give them the chance to study the growth of human cells when it comes to disorders like profound autism<\/a>, schizophrenia, cerebral palsy and epilepsy.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Scientists from Stanford University successfully transplanted lab-grown human brain tissue into specially bred mice, opening up new research into brain disorders. stanford.edu<\/p>\n

A general view of the campus of Stanford University, including Hoover Tower, is seen from Stanford Stadium on Saturday, September 10, 2022, in Palo Alto, California. Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can begin to ask how disease-associated human genetic changes alter neural development and circuitry and whether potential treatments can prevent or correct those changes,\u201d Pasca said.<\/p>\n

Alison Singer, president of the Autism Science Foundation, called it a \u201ccritical step\u201d in disease treatment and prevention.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe idea that you can make an organoid model with an individual\u2019s unique genetic character and use that to learn what\u2019s gone awry in that individual\u2019s brain is a critical step toward precision medicine,\u201d Singer said in the Stanford report.<\/p>\n

Studying the brain has been difficult at \u201cthe molecular and cellular level,\u201d not only because of how complex the brain is, but studying \u201cliving human brain tissue\u201d is almost always impossible for ethical reasons.<\/p>\n

\u201cNeuroscientists will be able to learn much more about the causes and mechanisms of neurodevelopmental and pregnancy-incurred disorders and to test possible interventions to correct or prevent them,\u201d Pasca said in the Stanford report.<\/p>\n

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