Stanford grows half-human brain tissue in mice to model neurological disorders
TL;DR Summary
Scientists at Stanford grafted human brain tissue derived from patient skin cells into mice engineered to have an underdeveloped cortex; in some animals the human tissue grew to about half the brain, connected to blood supply and forming some neural links with mouse cells. The model aims to study human brain disorders such as schizophrenia, epilepsy, cerebral palsy, intellectual disability, and dementias and to test potential interventions, but the tissue remains immature and did not enhance cognition. The work raises ongoing ethical questions about animal welfare and the validity of in vivo human-brain models.
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