A Brain in a Dish

Ohio State University researchers have made a leap forward in disease research by creating an eraser sized human "brain" in a petri dish¹. Although lacking a circulatory system their brain model includes spinal cord, cortex, midbrain, brain stem, and even the beginnings of an eye- aiding in the effectiveness of research on complex neurological disease. To create their new brain model, the researchers converted adult skin cells into pluripotent stem cells, which afforded the opportunity to build the multiple nervous cell types required for such a complex system. Having this tissue model will assist researchers in developing new disease models, and thus, facilitate the development of novel clinical interventions.