Scientists are growing miniature human brain circuits in laboratory dishes
In short: The human brain is notoriously difficult to study because it is tucked away inside our skulls. To bypass this, researchers are now using stem cells to grow "assembloids"—self-organizing clumps of neural tissue that can form complex circuits, allowing us to watch the brain's assembly in real time.
For decades, neuroscientists have faced a fundamental paradox: the very cells and circuits that produce our mental lives are incredibly difficult to access and study. Because people rarely part with brain tissue, studying how the brain develops or how neuropsychiatric diseases take hold has been a massive challenge. To solve this, Sergiu Pasca and his team at Stanford have pioneered techniques to reverse engineer the brain using human stem cells. This work is supported by a Big Ideas in Neuroscience award. It is led by Sergiu Pasca, an associate professor of psychiatry and behavioural sciences.
The process begins by "rebooting" cells, such as skin cells, from a healthy subject or a patient with a neuropsychiatric disorder. These cells are guided to develop into various types of brain and nervous system tissues. In laboratory dishes, these cells grow into floating spheres known as organoids. By combining these organoids, researchers can create "assembloids"—simplified human brain circuits that recapitulate different brain regions and allow scientists to observe how different parts of the developing brain wire together. These lab-grown neuronal organoids enable the study of how various developing brain regions connect. This method allows for the production of over a dozen distinct tissue types.
This breakthrough offers a way to turn back the clock on human development. By observing the molecular rules that orchestrate self-assembly, scientists hope to pinpoint exactly where processes go awry in conditions like autism, schizophrenia, or ALS. This research, supported by the Stanford Brain Organogenesis Project, brings us closer to identifying targeted therapies for complex brain disorders by studying the assembly and wiring of human neural circuitry as it happens. The Stanford Brain Organogenesis Project brings together experts from engineering, chemistry, and bioethics. This multidisciplinary group aims to advance and share these innovative techniques.
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Sources
- Summary by Intellect · source: Sergiu P. Pasca: How we're reverse engineering the human brain in the lab
- Also: Q&A: Reverse engineering the human brain by growing neural circuits in the
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