Networking neurons thrive in 3-D human “organoid”
(May 29, 2015) A
patient tormented by suicidal thoughts gives his psychiatrist a few strands of
his hair. She derives stem cells from them to grow budding brain tissue harboring
the secrets of his unique illness in a petri dish. She uses the information to
genetically engineer a personalized treatment to correct his brain circuit
functioning. Just Sci-fi? Yes, but...
An evolving “disease-in-a-dish” technology, funded by the
National Institutes of Health (NIH), is bringing closer the day when such a
seemingly futuristic personalized medicine scenario might not seem so
far-fetched. Scientists have perfected mini cultured 3-D structures that grow
and function much like the outer mantle – the key working tissue, or cortex —
of the brain of the person from whom they were derived. Strikingly, these
“organoids” buzz with neuronal network activity. Cells talk with each other in
circuits, much as they do in our brains.