Brain grown from stem cells

Austrian scientists for the first time, the world has grown from stem cells in the human brain is small. The results of the research are published in the journal Nature.

To grow a brain, biologists took skin cells healthy person and reprogrammed them into stem cells (iPSC, induced pluripotent stem cells), which can develop into any type of tissue. The thus obtained stem cells are first grown in a special gel substrate, the structure resembling the connective tissue of the human body, and then placed in a tray.

After a while of stem cells grown some structures resembling embryonic brain during the ninth week of development. The diameter of each reached 3-4 mm.

Under the microscope, the scientists were able to examine the interacting region of the brain. In the mini-brain was detected even bark. "The overall structure of the grown samples differed," - said Noblich. This is due to the fact that in normal fetal brain maturation run molecule growth factors produced elsewhere in the body. Furthermore, due to the small diameter body tissues blood vessels absent.

Achieving Austrian biologists will allow scientists to find out the reasons of diseases characterized by impaired development of the brain, such as microcephaly. In this disease suffer skull size (and hence the brain) is less than normal for a healthy development of other parts of the body. Microcephaly is always accompanied by mental deficiency. To study the occurrence of the disease in rodents is not feasible due to species differences in the structure of the brain.

Earlier, another group of scientists has managed to grow from stem cells of the human eye, mouse heart and even teeth.