Making lab-grown brain organoids ‘brainier’

Key takeaways:In recent years, mini –brain organoids have been used in the lab to model a variety of diseases, from Alzheimer’s to COVID-19.With no standard process for creating these organoids, some more accurately mimic thebrain ’s structurethan others, which can lead to inconsistent scientific findings.A new studyoffers guidelines and methods for consistently generating high-quality, well-structured organoids.By using stem cells to grow miniature brain-like organs in the lab, scientists have opened a new avenue for studies of neurological development, disease and therapies that can ’t be conducted in living people. But not all mini–brain organoids are created equal and getting themto precisely mimic the human brain tissues they ’re modeling has been a persistent challenge.“Right now, it’s like the Wild West because there is no standard method for generating mini–brain organoids,” said Bennett Novitch, a member of the Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research at UCLA and thesenior author of a new paper on the topic.“Every neuroscientist wants to make a brain organoid model of their favorite disease, and yet everyone’s organoids do not always look alike.”In fact, becausethere is nocommon protocol for their production anda lack ofquality-control guidelines, organoids can vary from lab to lab — and even from batch to batch — which means that a finding made in one organoid may not hold true in another.“If my lab...
Source: UCLA Newsroom: Health Sciences - Category: Universities & Medical Training Source Type: news