THE WEEK – Scientists have found a way to grow a backbone — literally — according to a study published in the journal Nature.
Researchers were able to “coax human stem cells to develop into the ‘notochord,’ which plays a critical role in organizing tissue in developing human embryos and later becomes the intervertebral discs of the spinal column,” said Cosmos Magazine.
Specifically, the notochord acts as a “GPS” for an embryo’s nervous system, said James Briscoe, the senior author of the study, in a statement.
“What’s particularly exciting is that the notochord in our lab-grown structures appears to function similarly to how it would in a developing embryo,” Tiago Rito, the first author of the study, said in the statement. “It sends out chemical signals that help organize surrounding tissue, just as it would during typical development.”
The findings could help further research into how birth defects affect the spine or spinal cord.
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“It could also be valuable for studying intervertebral discs — the shock-absorbing cushions located between your vertebrate that actually forms from the notochord itself,” said Popular Mechanics. SOURCE.
Scientists Have Grown a Human Spine In a Lab
POPULAR MECHANICS – When people say “grow a backbone,” they usually don’t mean it literally.
But scientists at The Francis Crick Institute in London recently took the challenge to heart and successfully developed human stem cells models with notochord tissue.
During the development of an embryo, this rod-like tissue acts as a kind of crucial scaffold, and helps dictate where cells should build out the spine and nervous system.
This is the first stem cell model to contain a notochord, which is a big deal, considering their central role in early embryonic development. The results of the study were published earlier this week in the journal Nature.
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“The notochord acts like a GPS for the developing embryo, helping to establish the body’s main axis and guiding the formation of the spine and nervous system,” James Briscoe, senior author of the study, said in a press statement.
“Until now, it’s been difficult to generate this vital tissue in the lab, limiting our ability to study human development and disorders.”
In order to create this human notochord, the scientists had to rely on some help from our fellow vertebrate friends.
First, they analyzed chicken embryos, and compared them to mice and monkeys—animals closer to our particular branch on the tree of life.
With this information, the researchers could develop the timing and sequence of molecular signals needed to create a stem cell model with notochord tissue …