Common Food Additive Solves Decades-Long Neuroscience Problem
Stanford scientists have found an unexpectedly simple way to mass-produce tiny brain-like structures in the lab. This breakthrough could transform how researchers study brain development, disorders, and potential treatments. Credit: ShutterstockA food additive made mass production of brain organoids possible. Researchers can now study development and disease at scale.
A cross-disciplinary group of Wu Tsai Neuro researchers working with clusters of human neurons known as organoids aimed to expand their work and pursue larger scientific questions. The solution was all around them.
For nearly ten years, the Stanford Brain Organogenesis Program has advanced a transformative way to study the brain. Instead of relying on intact brain tissue from humans or animals, the team grows three-dimensional brain-like structures in the lab using stem cells, producing models referred to as human neural organoids and assembloids.
Launched in 2018 as part...
