The title of this article is a bit of a reach.
But these lab results regarding self-organizing
may be of interest to this list. Richard


Human brain artificially created in laboratory
Published on Mon, Feb 10, 2014 by livia rusu

Post filled in: Genetics, Mind & Brain


Human embryonic stem cells can be induced into forming a developing brain
tissue. The brain development process represents one of the most specific
processes; during it, neuroepithelium, formed as a flat sheet by the
nervous system, grows on the exterior layer of the embryo, after which it
folds in to create a neural tube giving rise to the brain and the spinal
cord. The process implicates the migration and proliferation of undeveloped
nerve cells from the brain at one end and the spinal cord at the other.

Human embryonic stem cells spontaneously organize into neuroepithelial
tissue containing multiple zones after growing for 70 days in culture. Via
RIKEN.

The discovery made by Yoshiki Sasai, Taisuke KAdoshima and their colleagues
from RIKEN Center for Developmental Biology consisted in treating human
embryonic stem (ES) cells by the use of a system with signaling molecules
inducing the formation of nervous tissue from the outer embryonic layer.
The thesis of their scientific project was that the cells have the capacity
of spontaneously organizing into cerebral cortical tissues - forming at the
front of the developing neural tube.

The previous research of Sasai's team had proven that a new culture
technique could involve growing ES cells in suspension, showing this way
that the cells are capable of self-organizing into complex
three-dimensional structures. The finding served as a methodology
throughout which pieces of cerebral cortex and embryonic eyes from mouse ES
cells were grown. Another more recent study has shown that there is a
complete compatibility with human embryonic stem cells that can also
organize into embryonic eyes that contain retinal tissue and
light-sensitive cells.

The last study of Sasai's team showed that the formation of nervous tissue
from the outer embryonic layer can be induced by treating human ES cells to
grow using the cell culture system with signaling molecules. This was
doubled by the finding that the cells spontaneously organize into
neuroepithelial tissue which folds up immediately after this, to give a
multilayered cortex.

During the thickening of the front end of the neural tube that happens
along with the embryonic development at both ends, waves of cells migrate
outward to mold the layered cerebral cortex as well as other parts of the
brain. What this study correlates along with this scientific fact is that
the reason for which the front end of the neural tube's thickening is the
growth of the glial fiber, spanning the thickness of the tube and guiding
migrating cells more than due to the accumulation of immature cells within
the tube, as the scientific community had previously commonly agreed upon.

Another critical difference highlighted by the scientific research between
the development of the neuronal tube in mice in humans is that in humans
the inner surface of the neural tube and the intermediate neuroepithelial
zone underneath it contain distinct populations of neural progenitors
resembling radial glia. In contrast, the progenitor population in mice and
rats is not present in the developing of the cortex. Kadoshima declared
that 'efficient generation of cortical tissues could provide a valuable
resource of functional neurons and tissues for medical applications',
suggesting that further research should combine this method with
disease-specific human induced pluripotent SE cells, while the reproduction
of complex human disorders is also a possible on the table for further
experiments.

Read more at http://www.zmescience.com/medicine/genetic/human-brain-stem-
cells-10022014/#yvrlccr0wdF1c2FO.99

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