GoKawiilStanford scientists create mice with human-cell brain cortices
A Stanford team led by Sergiu Pașca genetically engineered mice to lack most of their cortex and hippocampus, then implanted human brain organoid cells into the resulting gap. The human cells expanded to fill much of that space within weeks to months, and mice with the human tissue performed better on memory maze tests than mice without it.
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This demonstrates that transplanted human neural tissue can meaningfully integrate with and influence an animal's cognition, not just survive passively. It signals growing power to combine stem-cell technology and genetic engineering to model human brain function and disease, while also raising ethical questions about human-animal chimeras as this research area matures.
- Mice engineered to lack cortex/hippocampus tissue were used as hosts for human brain organoid cells.
- Human cells filled much of the missing brain space and appeared to restore some memory function in maze tests.
- Researchers see potential uses in studying brain injury and stroke, alongside broader implications for chimeric brain research.
Source: technologyreview.com — Antonio Regalado, 2026-09-16
Published there as: “Meet a mouse whose brain cortex is made up of human cells”
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