Implanting Human Nerve Cells Into Rat Brains by Molly Masalskis
-Stanford University
The human brain is one of the most complex puzzles known to man. Scientists for years have been growing human nerve cells in laboratories, which while they did grow, the cells were limited by the inability to produce a perfect environment. Recently scientists have successfully implanted human nerve cells into baby rats. As the rats grew so did the human nerve cells, leading to larger and more intricate neurons better than any that have ever been grown in a lab. According to Science News, “Over the last decade, scientists have been building increasingly complex brain organoids, 3-D clusters of cells derived from stem cells that grow and mimic the human brain”. (Sanders) (Organoids- smaller simplified three dimensional lab produced organs) Scientists have been successful at implementing these organelles in baby rats, so much so that the organelle grew to be over 9 times their original size. Experiments have also shown that the human brain neurons implanted in the rats connect to the rats brain, and as of so far no negative effects have been observed in the rats. While this experiment is still in the beginning stages of development, if successful the door is wide open for more research into the brain or even cures for a multitude of developmental disorders.
Why do the human nerve cells grow better in the rat than in a lab?
How could this research be beneficial to developmental disorders?
Will the Organoids eventually stop growing in the rat, or will they continue to grow until it fully replaces the rat's brain?
Sanders, Laura. “Clumps of human nerve cells thrived in rat brains.” Science News, 12 October 2022, https://www.sciencenews.org/article/human-nerve-cell-rat-brain-organoi. Accessed 13 October 2022.
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