U.K scientists and ethicists have drawn up a code of practice for research in stem cell-derived embryo models, filling a governance gap that has opened up as these organoids have become more sophisticated and increasingly resemble their natural counterparts. “Synthetic” embryos now have the ability to organize into complex structures that approximate aspects of early human development, such as a beating heart, complex neural structures capable of signaling, sensory perception and limb-like structures.
Recently, researchers at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, in collaboration with colleagues in Japan, have developed a human vascular organoid model that accurately mimics the vascular damage caused by SARS-CoV-2.
The Gustave Roussy cancer center, specializing in cancer treatment, and its technology transfer subsidiary Gustave Roussy Transfert, reported the creation of startup Orakl SA, which develops a technology for modeling cancer tumors called the patient tumor avatar. Orakl leverages a unique collection of patient tumor avatars, combining biological and clinical data to fuel the therapeutic arsenal to fight cancer.
Sensorium Therapeutics Inc. closed a $30 million series A round to fund the discovery and development of new psychiatric drugs, inspired by human ethnobotanical practices that date back hundreds or even thousands of years.
Human brain organoids transplanted into rats could be used as an in vivo model for the study of neuropsychiatric diseases. Researchers at Stanford University managed to mature human organoid neurons in the somatosensory cortex of the animal's brain and incorporate them into its neural circuitry.The integration improved the morphological and physiological properties of the transplanted neurons. Compared to those of organoids in a Petri dish, human cells preserved their own identity, and they modified the rat's learned behavior through stimulation and reward experiments.
Investigators from the University of Copenhagen, Denmark have developed a cell line engineered to express bone morphogenetic protein 2 (BMP-2) and key extracellular matrix genes and critical factors that regulate and support human hematopoiesis. The findings were reported in the Oct. 12, 2022, issue of Science Translational Medicine. One of the clinical applications that the research team is interested in involves exploiting the MSOD-B hOss as a tumor model for bone colonization in the context of various cancers.
Human brain organoids transplanted into rats could be used as an in vivo model for the study of neuropsychiatric diseases. Researchers at Stanford University managed to mature human organoid neurons in the somatosensory cortex of the animal's brain and incorporate them into its neural circuitry.The integration improved the morphological and physiological properties of the transplanted neurons. Compared to those of organoids in a Petri dish, human cells preserved their own identity, and they modified the rat's learned behavior through stimulation and reward experiments.
Brain disorders have not yet profited from advances in precision medicine to the same extent that other disorders have. With the advent of magnetic resonance imaging and other technologies, watching the brain at work has made great strides in recent decades. But those data have often been shoehorned into the categories of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. Researchers are working to bring diagnostic categories in line with a modern understanding the brain.
Although targeted therapies are prescribed on the basis of a patient's molecular makeup, they do not work every time. And in those instances where they do work, they basically stop working every time. In response, researchers have developed a number of systems whose goal it is to predict which drugs will be effective for an individual patients.
Separate research groups have reported new insights into the process of neurogenesis during development and adulthood, respectively. Their papers appeared in the July 6, 2021, online issue of Cell Reports.
