Brain tumors are aggressive and deadly cancers, yet it has been difficult to study them in the laboratory. A new Nature Methods paper reports a ground-breaking method to grow tumors inside brain organoids, which are tiny organ-like structures derived from human stem cells that resemble the architecture of the brain. These tumors develop after introducing clinically-relevant mutations using genome-editing, and mimic the onset of brain cancer within the human brain – allowing researchers to learn about the biology of brain cancer and develop new therapies.
Congratulations to the Knoblich lab at the Institute of Molecular Biotechnology!
