For the first time, scientists have placed human brain cells in another animal. The recipient was a young rat, which did not shed the cells. According to Stanford University in the US, where the experiment was conducted, it is a step towards a cure for brain disorders such as severe autism and schizophrenia.
The researchers used human stem cells to create a primitive version of the human cerebral cortex—yes, you can. They placed it in the rat’s cup. To ensure that they could follow the development of the brain part, it was processed with a fluorescent protein, so that it was lighter on scans (photo).
It worked, the cells became part of the rat brain. In fact, the researchers saw that the cells started to work together with the rat cells, especially when processing observations. Thus, the human brain part began to do tasks that would normally have been done by the rat brain itself. It proves that you can at least partially transplant your brain.
This opens up the possibility of performing this kind of surgery on humans in the future. You might be able to support damaged brains by adding a new piece of brain. Research on the rats showed that the human brain cells had continued to develop in their brain and that they had really become part of the rat.