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last yr.

Scientists Grow 'Minibrains' from Human Fetal Brain Tissue for the First Time

The organoids could provide new ways to study brain health and disease, and test cancer drugs.

3D mini-organs created from human fetus' brain tissue
Image showing an example of one of the new, circular brain organoids with stem cells in gray around the edge and nerve cells color graded from yellow at the top to purple at the bottom in terms of their depth relative to the outside of the minibrain

Overview

  • Scientists have successfully grown 'minibrains' from human fetal brain tissue for the first time, creating three-dimensional organoids that mimic key aspects of full-size human brains.
  • The organoids, which grew to the size of a grain of rice, self-organized into complex 3D structures and contained many types of cells.
  • Researchers were able to trigger the growth of brain tumors within the minibrains and test the tumors' response to existing cancer drugs.
  • The new organoids could complement existing stem-cell-derived organoids and provide unique ways to study brain health and disease.
  • Ethical considerations and discussions with donors and the scientific community are needed before further experiments are conducted with these organoids.