Related Experiment Video
Updated: Feb 17, 2026
Robust and Highly Reproducible Generation of Cortical Brain Organoids for Modelling Brain Neuronal Senescence In Vitro
Published on: May 5, 2022
Present and future of modeling human brain development in 3D organoids
Giorgia Quadrato1, Paola Arlotta1
1Department of Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA; Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA.
Abstract:
Three-dimensional (3D) brain organoids derived from human pluripotent stem cells hold great potential to investigate complex human genetic states and to model aspects of human brain development and pathology. However, the field of brain organoids is still in its infancy, and their use has been limited by their variability and their inability to differentiate into 3D structures with reproducible anatomical organization. Here, starting from a review of basic principles of in vitro 'brain organogenesis', we discuss which aspects of human brain development and disease can be faithfully modeled with current brain organoid protocols, and discuss improvements that would allow them to become reliable tools to investigate complex features of human brain development and disease.
