Mother's cells linger in offspring brains for decades, study finds
A bioRxiv preprint reports maternal microchimerism in the human brain: maternal cells were found in about 70% of brains studied (26 of 37), spread across regions including the cortex and hippocampus. Using single-nucleus RNA sequencing, these cells differentiated into multiple brain cell types (neurons, oligodendrocytes, astrocytes, microglia, endothelial cells), suggesting maternal cells can persist for decades after transfer during pregnancy. The work, based on brain tissue from epilepsy patients and autopsy samples, raises questions about their role in brain development, and findings are not yet peer‑reviewed.
