These are miniature brains created from stem cells. While they might be a million times smaller than human brains, these mini-brains are the first observed to create brain waves resembling those of preterm babies. This could greatly help scientists in understanding human brain development.
"The level of neural activity we are seeing is unprecedented in vitro," says Alysson Muotri, a biologist at the University of California, San Diego. "We are one step closer to have a model that can actually generate these early stages of a sophisticated neural network."
The pea-sized brains, called cerebral organoids, are derived from human pluripotent stem cells. By putting them in culture that mimics the environment of brain development, the stem cells differentiate into different types of brain cells and self-organize into a 3-D structure resembling the developing human brain.
More details of this study over at PHYS.org.
(Image Credit: Muotri Lab/ UCTV)
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The cross-section of the brain organoids is beautiful!
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You're right. And if scientists could grow an in vitro brain from scratch, could that brain gain consciousness? Would it still be human or a new species?
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I can see this being SO controversial. Are these manufactured but functioning brains human? And what would the answer say about fetuses that have similar brainwaves?
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