Cambridge researchers have developed ‘mini brains’ that allow them to study a fatal and untreatable neurological disorder causing paralysis and dementia—and for the first time have been able to grow these for almost a year. A common form of motor…
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Lab-grown embryos and human-monkey hybrids: Medical marvels or ethical missteps?
In Aldous Huxley’s 1932 novel “Brave New World,” people aren’t born from a mother’s womb. Instead, embryos are grown in artificial wombs until they are brought into the world, a process called ectogenesis. In the novel, technicians in charge of…
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Lab-grown mini ‘brains’ of humans and apes reveal why one got so much bigger
Using lab-grown mini-brains, scientists have figured out why humans have bigger brains than those of apes. About 5 million to 8 million years ago, humans and apes diverged from a common ancestor. Some time after that, humans started evolving to…
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First lab-grown mini-thyroids use patients’ own tissue
Hormones produced by the thyroid gland are essential regulators of organ function. The absence of these hormones either through thyroid dysfunction due to, for example, irradiation, thyroid cancer or autoimmune disease or thyroidectomy leads to symptoms like fatigue, feeling cold,…
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