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STAT+: Brain organoids, kept alive more than five years, matured like human brains

2026-08-19 15:00
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STAT+: Brain organoids, kept alive more than five years, matured like human brains

Brain organoids kept alive more than five years continued to develop and mature, and showed molecular and genetic signatures like those of human brains.

A little more than two years ago, a junior scientist walked into Paola Arlotta’s Harvard office with a set of mesmerizing images and asked if she wanted to see what the old brain organoids look like. 

Arlotta, a developmental neurobiologist, turned in surprise. “You analyzed them?” she exclaimed. 

Irene Faravelli’s face fell. She had, but now she wondered if that had been a grave mistake. Arlotta assured her everything was fine. In fact it was great. “I was actually pleased that somebody had the courage to do this,” Arlotta recalled to STAT in a recent interview. 

Continue to STAT+ to read the full story…

Source: Megan Molteni · www.statnews.com