From our recent @Nature—a few recommissions [part 6 & last]:

‘The term cerebral organoid has sometimes been used broadly in the field, but it should be restricted to organoids that predominantly contain cells of the cerebrum.’ ‘Claiming bona fide identity of in vitro-derived organoids or assembloids requires rigorous benchmarking to primary human tissue’

From our recent @Nature— thoughtfulness in the language used [part 5]:

‘It was felt strongly by all authors that the names mini-brain, brain-in-a-dish and whole-brain organoid to describe neural organoids should be avoided.’ ‘These terms do not accurately inform the type of organoid produced, and they have proved to be confusing…’

From our recent @Nature— a classification [part 4]

‘#Organoids can be used to form #assembloids…’

‘The combination of organoids with other organoids or with different specialized cell types in self-organizing 3D cultures results in emergent features of the system..’ ‘Assembloids are obtained by: incorporating different organoids into multi-region assembloids, such as when combining dorsal with ventral forebrain, cerebral cortex with striatum, or cerebral cortex with thalamus; integrating neural or non-neural cells…’

From our recent @Nature— classification [part 3]

‘We recognize two main categories of neural organoids on the basis of the level of guidance provided during the differentiation of pluripotent stem cells into organoids.’ ‘By guidance we mean the addition of small molecules or factors intended to generate a particular region or collection of cell types’

From our recent @Nature— outlining key terms [part 1]

‘We define #organoids as in vitro-generated cellular systems that emerge by self-organization, include multiple cell types, and exhibit some cytoarchitectural and functional features reminiscent of an organ or organ region.’ ‘Organoids can be generated as 3D cultures or by a combination of 3D and 2D approaches (also known as 2.5D)…For the nervous system, they are generally constructed from pluripotent stem cells but can also be derived from donor tissues with growth potential…’

Self-organizing systems have been one of the most exciting recent advances in stem cell research
However, many names & classifications are used making it challenging to convey the science
We now got together as a field to provide a nomenclature framework
Out in @Nature today👇1/9 Perspective article here: nature.com/articles/s4158…

Accessible also here: rdcu.be/cWwCc

Hundreds of genes have been associated with autism & neurodev disorders
But how do these genes impact specific stages in human development?
In a new preprint, @XianglingM took a bold approach & developed CRISPR screens in #assembloids to map 425 genes on interneuron dev stages 👇 To achieve this, @XianglingM & our team generated and screened over 1000 forebrain #assembloids built from parts derived from human pluripotent stem cells

Thrilled to share new work from my lab @Stanford in @NatureBiotech today on generating functional cortico-striatal #assembloids, striatal #organoids & using them to model disease. Work led by the amazing @myym_yuki with help from @Minyin_Li @fikribirey @omerevah @TheteMayuri. Check out the human medium spiny neurons: