Human brain cells implanted in rats offer research gold mine
Human brain cells implanted in rats offer research gold mine
TOKYO, Japan – Scientists have successfully implanted and integrated human brain cells into newborn rats, creating a new way to study complex psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia and autism, and perhaps eventually test treatments.
Sergiu PASCA / Stanford University / AFP
Studying how these conditions develop is incredibly difficult — animals do not experience them like people, and humans cannot simply be opened up for research.
Scientists can assemble small sections of human brain tissue derived from stem cells in petri dishes, and have already done so with more than a dozen brain regions.
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