Scientists develop ‘mini-brain’ model of human prion disease

Scientists have used human skin cells to create what they believe is the first cerebral organoid system, or ‘mini-brain,’ for studying sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD). CJD is a fatal neurodegenerative brain disease of humans believed to be caused by infectious prion protein. The researchers hope the human organoid model will enable them to evaluate potential CJD therapeutics and provide greater detail about human prion disease subtypes.