Harvard researchers have sustained lab-grown human brain organoids for more than seven years — shattering the previous record of about 694 days. These peppercorn-sized cell clusters, grown from stem cells, mimic key stages of human brain development. Scientists found that as the organoids age, they seem to «record the passage of time» and retain a cellular «memory» of developmental steps. In an experiment, when older and younger cells were mixed, the older ones «jumped ahead» in development. This could open new avenues for studying brain aging and diseases.
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