Targeting a key gene before birth could someday help lead to a treatment for Down syndrome by reversing abnormal embryonic brain development and improving cognitive function after birth, according to a Rutgers-led study.
Using stem cells that can turn into other cells in the brain, researchers developed two experimental models – a living 3D “organoid” model of the brain and a mouse brain model with implanted human cells – to investigate early brain development linked to Down syndrome, according to the study in the journal Cell Stem Cell. The study focused on human chromosome 21 gene OLIG2.
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