Mice receive millions of human brain cells

Scientists at Stanford University have created mice whose brains contain millions of functioning human neurons, developing a new model for studying neurological disorders and potential treatments, reports a Qazinform News Agency correspondent.

Collage credit: Canva/ Qazinform In a study published in Nature , researchers genetically engineered mice to lack most of the cerebral cortex and hippocampus before implanting human cortical organoids grown from stem cells.

The team removed approximately 14 million mouse neurons and introduced around four million human neurons. The transplanted tissue expanded, developed blood vessels and connected with the animals' nervous systems, eventually occupying most of the available cortical space.

"For the past two decades, there's been a quest to try to build models of the human brain outside of the human body," said senior author Sergiu Pașca , professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Stanford University.