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Stem cells taken from human embryos were used to form tissues of the cerebral cortex, the supreme control tower of the brain which is involved in thinking and motion.
Research on stem cells is seen as having the potential to save lives by helping to find cures for diseases such as cancer and diabetes or to replace damaged cells, tissues and organs.
This is the first time that brain cells have been made which could lead to treatments for stroke victims as well as progressive brain diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.
The process was successfully carried out by Yoshiki Sasai and Mototsugu Eiraku, of the Riken Centre for Developmental Biology in Kobe.
The cortex remained undeveloped, equivalent to that of a foetus, but it's the first time that researchers have ever created brain tissue involving different cell types, rather than single brain cells.
The researchers placed about 3,000 embryonic stem cells in a culture solution, and had the cells gather together naturally to form a solid, and, after 46 days, a sphere of tissue measuring two millimeters in diameter...
Research on stem cells is seen as having the potential to save lives by helping to find cures for diseases such as cancer and diabetes or to replace damaged cells, tissues and organs.
This is the first time that brain cells have been made which could lead to treatments for stroke victims as well as progressive brain diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.
The process was successfully carried out by Yoshiki Sasai and Mototsugu Eiraku, of the Riken Centre for Developmental Biology in Kobe.
The cortex remained undeveloped, equivalent to that of a foetus, but it's the first time that researchers have ever created brain tissue involving different cell types, rather than single brain cells.
The researchers placed about 3,000 embryonic stem cells in a culture solution, and had the cells gather together naturally to form a solid, and, after 46 days, a sphere of tissue measuring two millimeters in diameter...