Scientists transplant lab-grown human brain tissue into mice

Scientists have transplanted laboratory-grown human brain tissue into bioengineered mice in what they call an important advance for studying human brain development that may speed research into the causes and mechanisms of devastating ​disorders such as profound autism, epilepsy, cerebral palsy and schizophrenia.

The researchers said the human tissue replicated key features of brain development including formation of functional neural networks after ‌being transplanted into mice engineered to lack most of their own cerebral cortex, the brain’s outermost layer. They said this is significant because living human brain tissue is essentially inaccessible for research purposes for ethical reasons.