Breakthrough Replicates Human Brain Cells for Use in Alzheimer’s Research

In a recent study published in the journal Nature, researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston created what they are referring to as Alzheimer’s in a dish — a petri dish with human brain cells that developed the telltale structures of Alzheimer’s disease. The key to their success, the lead researcher explained, was the decision to grow human brain cells in a gel, where they formed networks similar to those found in an actual brain. They gave the neurons the genes for Alzheimer’s disease. Within weeks, they saw the hard brillo-like clumps known as plaques, and then the twisted spaghetti-like coils known as tangles — the defining features of Alzheimer’s disease. The results from the study could dramatically accelerate finding and testing new drug candidates for the disease. To read more about this study, click here.