Genetic Engineering Publications - GEG Tech top picks

A group of researchers has taken a new approach to studying human brain development: they are growing and using organoids, three-dimensional millimeter-sized tissues that can be grown from what are called pluripotent stem cells. Research on organoids made of human cellular material has the advantage that the results are transferable to humans. In a new study just published in Nature, its researchers have now studied thousands of individual cells in a brain organoid at different times and in great detail. The goal of this study was to systematically identify genetic switches that have a significant impact on the development of neurons in different regions of brain organoids. Using a CRISPR-Cas9 system, the researchers selectively turned off one gene in each cell, for a total of about two dozen genes simultaneously throughout the organoid. This allowed them to discover what role the respective genes played in the development of the brain organoid. 

Organoids are 3D structures derived from adult or embryonic stem cells that maintain many structural and functional features of their respective organ. Recently, genome editing based on the bacterial defense mechanism CRISPR/Cas9 has emerged as an easily applicable and reliable lab tool. Combining organoids and CRISPR/Cas9 creates exciting new opportunities to study organ development and human disease in vitro. The potential applications of CRISPR in organoids are only beginning to be explored.