Stanford Grows Human Brain Tissue Inside Mice

Researchers at Stanford University have transplanted lab-grown human brain tissue into bioengineered mice, creating animals with part-human brains in what scientists call an important advance for studying human brain development.

The mice were genetically altered so they could receive human brain cells and function with them, according to the BBC. The transplanted human brain organoids went on to form functional neural networks.

It is the largest amount of human brain tissue ever grown inside a mouse, Gizmodo reported.

Why It Matters

Reuters reported that the work may speed research into the causes and mechanisms of disorders including profound autism, epilepsy, cerebral palsy and schizophrenia. The Guardian reported researchers also hope it will shed light on intellectual disability and rare forms of dementia.

Human brains are largely off-limits to direct experiment. A living animal model carrying working human brain tissue gives scientists something they have not had: a way to watch human neurons develop and misfire in real time.