University of Michigan researchers published a study detailing a new method for making brain organoids, or miniature lab-grown brains used in neuroscience research, last June. Previously, the most common method for creating human brain organoids relied on Matrigel — a substance made of cells from mouse sarcomas — to provide structure for the organoids, but the new method uses an engineered extracellular matrix composed of human-derived proteins.

The lack of cells from other species in the new organoids means they more closely resemble actual human brains, opening up research possibilities on neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. U-M alum Ayse Muñiz, who worked on the research as part of her Ph.D. thesis while at the University, said in an interview with The Michigan Daily that having organoids with only human cells is advantageous for translational research — the process of turning knowledge from lab research into something with real-world applications.

“When you’re doing translational research, having contamination from other species will limit your ability to translate this into the clinic,” Muñiz said. “The presence of other species basically elicits immunogenic responses, and can just be a limitation for scale and other things like that. And so here now that you’ve taken that out, it makes the path to translation a lot easier.”

I first posted about Orgaanoids for the heart, beause I have a family member with heart problems, and I know how the innovation is a game changer. I like to think of myself as a futurist, and being ahead of most everyone. My post about Mastodon proves such…oh wait someone else posted it and threads uses the same ActivityPub protocol that is Mastodon. I should get Him to repost it if I know Him 🙄, while as if I thought it. Let us always embrace the future, and futurists. 😁

For over a century, scientists have dreamed of growing human organs sans humans. This technology could put an end to the scarcity of organs for transplants. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg. The capability to grow fully functional organs would revolutionize research. For example, scientists could observe mysterious biological processes, such as how human cells and organs develop a disease and respond (or fail to respond) to medication without involving human subjects.

As described in the aforementioned Nature paper, Żernicka-Goetz and her team mimicked the embryonic environment by mixing these three types of stem cells from mice. Amazingly, the stem cells self-organized into structures and progressed through the successive developmental stages until they had beating hearts and the foundations of the brain.

“Our mouse embryo model not only develops a brain, but also a beating heart [and] all the components that go on to make up the body,” said Żernicka-Goetz. “It’s just unbelievable that we’ve got this far. This has been the dream of our community for years and major focus of our work for a decade and finally we’ve done it.”

If the methods developed by Żernicka-Goetz’s team are successful with human stem cells, scientists someday could use them to guide the development of synthetic organs for patients awaiting transplants. It also opens the door to studying how embryos develop during pregnancy.

The GDNF gene therapy is currently used to treat Parkinson’s disease but could now be a major breakthrough in substantially reducing alcohol use disorder. “Drinking went down to almost zero,” Grant told OHSU News. “For months on end, these animals would choose to drink water and just avoid drinking alcohol altogether. They decreased their drinking to the point that it was so low we didn’t record a blood-alcohol level.”

Grant and her team said in the study that the resounding efficacy of GDNF gene therapy is promising for those who struggle with alcohol use disorder, and believe it could be effective in treating other substance abuse disorders. However, the therapy treatment would not be widely accessible and with other options on the market, it should be used as a last resort form of treatment.

Columbia researchers have identified brain injuries that may underlie hidden consciousness, a puzzling phenomenon in which brain-injured patients are unable to respond to simple commands, making them appear unconscious despite having some level of awareness.

“Our study suggests that patients with hidden consciousness can hear and comprehend verbal commands, but they cannot carry out those commands because of injuries in brain circuits that relay instructions from the brain to the muscles,” says study leader Jan Claassen, MD, associate professor of neurology at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons and chief of critical care and hospitalist neurology at NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Irving Medical Center.

The findings could help physicians more quickly identify brain-injured patients who might have hidden consciousness and better predict which patients are likely to recover with rehabilitation.