Scientists, including one of Indian-origin, have developed 3D 'mini-brains' that mimic some of the human brain's structures and functionality and can be used to study diseases such as alzheimer's and autism. The creation of these 'mini-brains' could dramatically change how new drugs are tested for effectiveness and safety, researchers said.
The mini-brains are very small - at 350 micrometres in diameter, or about the size of the eye of a housefly, they are just about visible to the human eye.
They may be able to replace mice for testing!
Performing research using these balls of brain cells that grow and form brain-like structures on their own over the course of eight weeks should be superior to studying mice because they are derived from human cells instead of rodents, they said.
"95% of drugs that look promising when tested in animal models fail once they are tested in humans at great expense of time and money," said Thomas Hartung, professor at Johns Hopkins University, USA. Researchers, including Anupama Kumar of John Hopkins University, created the brains using what are known as induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs).
The mini-brains are very small - at 350 micrometres in diameter, or about the size of the eye of a housefly, they are just about visible to the human eye.
They may be able to replace mice for testing!
Performing research using these balls of brain cells that grow and form brain-like structures on their own over the course of eight weeks should be superior to studying mice because they are derived from human cells instead of rodents, they said.
"95% of drugs that look promising when tested in animal models fail once they are tested in humans at great expense of time and money," said Thomas Hartung, professor at Johns Hopkins University, USA. Researchers, including Anupama Kumar of John Hopkins University, created the brains using what are known as induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs).