GoKawiilStanford study finds human brain forms from two separate progenitor cell types
Researchers led by Kyle Loh at Stanford University found that in mouse and human embryos, the front and back regions of the brain arise from distinct progenitor cells rather than a shared developmental origin. Cells expressing the OTX2 gene generate the forebrain and midbrain, while GBX2-expressing cells produce the hindbrain, a pattern confirmed in both mouse embryos and human cells grown in dishes.
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The discovery suggests the brain may be an evolutionary merger of two once-separate nervous systems rather than a single unified organ, reshaping ideas about brain evolution. It also explains long-standing difficulties in lab-growing hindbrain tissue, since scientists were using the wrong progenitor cells, a gap that has hampered research into hindbrain-related disorders.
- Forebrain/midbrain and hindbrain neurons develop from genetically distinct progenitor cells (OTX2 vs GBX2).
- The finding implies the brain evolved from two separate primitive nervous systems that merged spatially.
- It clarifies why growing hindbrain tissue in lab dishes has previously failed, opening new research paths.
Source: newscientist.com — Alice Klein, 2026-09-18
Published there as: “Our brain evolved from two primitive nervous systems that merged: Study”
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