Human Brain Organoid

Yale University neuroscientists have grown brain “organoids” from induced pluripotent stem cells, converted from skin cells of autism patients. In studying these cultures, they made a surprising discovery about neuronal balance in brain development. Quoting directly: “The patient organoids showed an unexpected overproduction of inhibitory neurons that quiet down neural activity, while those that excite the partners they’re wired to were unaffected, leading to an imbalance in neuron type. Remarkably, by suppressing the expression of a single gene whose expression was abnormally increased in patient organoids, the authors were able to correct this bias, suggesting that it may be possible to intervene clinically to restore neuronal balance.” MORE

Image Credit: Jessica Marian, Yale