MSE Seminar: “Engineering Organoid Models for Understanding Human Neurodevelopment and neurological disorders”

Human Induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) has the potential to generate all cell types of a human body under 2D culture conditions or form organ like structures-organoids, under 3D culture conditions. Brain organoid cultures from human iPSCs have been recently developed to recapitulate the cellular composition and the cytoarchitecture of the developing brain. These hiPSC based organoid model systems offer unique advantages in understanding molecular and cellular mechanisms governing embryonic neural development and in modeling neurodevelopmental and neurological disorders. I will discuss our recent work in developing brain region specific organoid systems and apply them to understand human brain development and neurotropism of SARS-CoV-2.