Harvard Scientists Grow Human Brain Organoids for 7 Years, Shattering 694-Day Record
Updated
Updated · New York Post · Aug 25
Harvard Scientists Grow Human Brain Organoids for 7 Years, Shattering 694-Day Record
3 articles · Updated · New York Post · Aug 25
Summary
Seven-year-old human brain organoids developed by Harvard outlasted the previous 694-day record and showed cell maturation patterns resembling those in the human brain.
Nature data from 34 organoids tracked over six months to five years showed DNA methylation worked as an "age clock," indicating the lab-grown tissue followed internal developmental timing.
Mixed-age experiments found one-year-old cells advanced rapidly even when combined with two-week-old cells, producing neurons on a timeline that Arlotta said effectively "warped time."
Peppercorn-sized organoids usually die within two years because they lack blood vessels and oxygen, making the long survival a technical breakthrough for modeling brain development.
The work could strengthen disease research, including Alzheimer's and potentially schizophrenia, by giving scientists longer-lived human brain models to study progression and test drugs.