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This approach saves an extraordinary amount of energy compared to normal computers, but there is a big problem. The lab-grown miniature human brains keep wearing out and dying, and so scientists have to keep growing new ones to replace them. Stem cells that are derived from human skin tissue are used to create the 16 spherical brain “organoids” that the system depends upon. I realize that this sounds like something straight out of a really bad science fiction movie, but it is actually happening. (snip) If the enslaved mini-brains do what they are supposed to do, they are rewarded with...

Researchers associated with SEngine Precision Medicine, a precision oncology company that matches patients to medicines based on their own tumor samples, have published a new case report showing a patient's remarkable response to an off-label therapy identified by its PARIS Test. Despite standard-of-care chemotherapy and two surgeries, the patient's low-grade serous ovarian cancer (LGSOC) was progressing and her prognosis was terminal. But by testing a range of therapies in organoids grown from the patient's own tumor sample, SEngine's PARIS Test identified as a top candidate ibrutinib, a BTK inhibitor approved only for certain leukemias and lymphomas and with no prior...

[A] team of scientists argues that something called "organoid intelligence," or OI, powered by living human brain cells could one day outperform any artificial system, and do it far more efficiently. Organoids are three-dimensional clumps of biological tissue that scientists have been growing and experimenting with for years. Researchers...at Johns Hopkins University are working with brain organoids that could lead to the development of a "biocomputer" powered by human brain cells. "The hope is that some of the remarkable functionalities of the human brain can be realized as OI, such as its ability to take fast decisions based on incomplete...

This image shows a brain organoid with optic cups. Credit: Elke Gabriel ============================================================================== Human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) can be used to generate brain organoids containing an eye structure called the optic cup, according to a study published on August 17, 2021, in the journal Cell Stem Cell. The organoids spontaneously developed bilaterally symmetric optic cups from the front of the brain-like region, demonstrating the intrinsic self-patterning ability of iPSCs in a highly complex biological process. “Our work highlights the remarkable ability of brain organoids to generate primitive sensory structures that are light sensitive and harbor cell types similar...

Concerns about ethical boundaries in scientific research are growing as reports surface about scientists creating three-parent embryos, hybridizing humans and animals and growing human brains. A new experiment out of the University Hospital Düsseldorf in Germany is raising more concerns after scientists said they grew human brain organoids, or small versions of human organs, that began spontaneously growing eyes, according to Science Alert. Scientists at the university said the rudimentary eyes recognized light and sent information to the brain. Though the discovery is disturbing, some scientists celebrated the discovery as a new avenue for research on human development. Here’s more...

Brazilian researchers have succesfully bioprinted tiny organoids that perform all of the human liver’s functions, Brazilian news service Agência FAPESP reports — functions including building proteins, storing vitamins and secreting bile. The researchers had to cultivate and reprogram human stem cells, and then 3D print them in layers to form tissue. While the “mini-livers” perform the functions of a liver, they’re unfortunately still a far cry from an actual full-scale liver. Not only could printed livers end a reliance on a very short supply of donor organs, they might end up being safer as well. “Another important advantage is zero...

Clinical trials are tentatively scheduled for 2020 at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center's new Center for Stem Cell and Organoid Medicine, where researchers are making miniature livers and pancreases, called organoids. Associate Director Takanori Takebe, MD, calls organoids a "complex recipe" of proteins, small molecules, amino acids and nutrients that enable him and his staff in the U.S. and Japan to make the organs using pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), or so-called "master cells." Takebe sees two roles for the manmade organs: drug testing and transplantation. "It's pretty much like science fiction, but we are trying to create the miniature version...