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Anchor: A research team led by South Korean and Singaporean scientists says it successfully cultivated midbrain-like organoids using human embryonic stem cells for the first time in the world. The scientists have expressed hope that their study will find a way to treat Parkinson's disease. Our Bae Joo-yon has more.
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Report: An international team of researchers led by South Korean and Singaporean scientists says it succeeded, for the first time in the world, in cultivating midbrain-like organoids using human embryonic stem cells.
Professor Je Hyun-soo of Duke-National University of Singapore Medical School said Friday that the organoids, which are miniature organs in vitro, were jointly cultivated with a group of researchers at the Genome Institute of Singapore.
The cultivated organoids are around two millimeters in size, or similar to the size of the midbrain of a fetus during the second trimester. They are about a quarter of the entire brain size of lab mice.
Professor Je and Huck-Hui Ng, head of the Genome Institute of Singapore, said that their team developed a 3D organoid model of the midbrain with the aim of finding a way to treat Parkinson’s disease, adding the model will likely overcome the limits of animal testing.
Je said that with the midbrain-like organoids, the growth of brain tissues can be continuously observed and could shed light on what causes Parkinson’s disease and how the progressive neurological disorder works.
Located at the very center of the brain, the midbrain is associated with vision, hearing and motor control.
The research team also discovered that the midbrain-like organoids produce neuromelanin, which is a key pigment found in substantia nigra which is closely linked to Parkinson’s disease.
The team’s research results were published in the journal Cell Stem Cell, on Thursday.
Bae Joo-yon, KBS World Radio News.
http://world.kbs.co.kr/english/news/news_Sc_detail.htm?No=120750
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