![]() To uncover the genetic mechanism driving these differences, the researchers compared gene expression - which genes are turned on and off - in the human brain organoids versus the other apes. Credit: MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology Madeline Lancaster and her team at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology. I feel like we’ve really learnt something fundamental about the questions I’ve been interested in for as long as I can remember - what makes us human.”ĭr. “It’s remarkable that a relatively simple evolutionary change in cell shape could have major consequences in brain evolution. Lancaster said: “We have found that a delayed change in the shape of cells in the early brain is enough to change the course of development, helping determine the numbers of neurons that are made. This could be largely responsible for the approximately three-fold greater number of neurons in human brains compared with gorilla or chimpanzee brains.ĭr. This difference in the speed of transition from neural progenitors to neurons means that the human cells have more time to multiply. The human progenitor cells maintained their cylinder-like shape for longer than other apes and during this time they split more frequently, producing more cells. Human progenitors were even more delayed in this transition, taking around seven days. They found that in gorillas and chimpanzees this transition takes a long time, occurring over approximately five days.Īfter only 5 days, gorilla neural progenitor cells have matured into a conical shape (right), while human cells (left) remain cylindrical. Now, brain organoids have allowed researchers to uncover how this development happens in humans, gorillas, and chimpanzees. Previously, research in mice had shown that their neural progenitor cells mature into a conical shape and slow their multiplication within hours. The more times the neural progenitor cells multiply at this stage, the more neurons there will be later.Īs the cells mature and slow their multiplication, they elongate, forming a shape like a stretched ice-cream cone. These progenitor cells initially have a cylindrical shape that makes it easy for them to split into identical daughter cells with the same shape. The most striking difference between us and other apes is just how incredibly big our brains are.”ĭuring the early stages of brain development, neurons are made by stem cells called neural progenitors. Madeline Lancaster, from the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, who led the study, said: “This provides some of the first insight into what is different about the developing human brain that sets us apart from our closest living relatives, the other great apes. Credit: S.Benito-Kwiecinski/MRC LMB/Cellĭr. Human brain organoids grow substantially bigger than gorilla and chimpanzee brain organoids (left to right).
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