[Edward64]

This is just too weird but pretty cool.

https://www.nbcnews.com/mach/science...hes-ncna886986

BUILDING A BRAIN
Why are researchers cultivating and studying these minibrains? The reason, they say, is that these small neural lumps may reveal why Neanderthals died out and Homo sapiens went on to conquer much of the planet.
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To investigate, Muotri and his colleagues compared the genome of Neanderthals (previously extracted from fossil bones and sequenced by other researchers) with that of modern humans. Out of 200 candidate genes that showed significant differences between the two species, the researchers decided to focus on just one: a master gene expression regulator known as NOVA1.

NOVA1 is highly expressed during neurodevelopment and has been linked to neural conditions, such as autism and schizophrenia, Muotri said. The NOVA1 gene is remarkably similar in humans and Neanderthals — just a single base pair (or pair of DNA "letters") is different between the two.
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The minibrains can't grow larger because they aren't vascularized, meaning they don't have a blood supply. Rather, the minibrain cells (there are up to 400,000 per brain) receive nutrients by diffusion.

"It is possible that in the future we could grow a bigger organoid," Muotri said. "We are working on this by creating bio-printed artificial blood vessels inside them."
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Human lab-grown brains are generally round, but the Neanderoids were not. Instead, the Neanderthal minibrains had elongated tubular structures that gave them a popcorn-like shape, Muotri said.

Some of the Neanderoid cells also migrated faster from the source during development, which could explain the unusual popcorn formation, he noted. [3D Images: Exploring the Human Brain]

Moreover, Muotri added that the Neanderoids didn't have as many synaptic connections, or connections between neurons, and had altered neuronal networks. These features look similar to human minibrains grown from people with autism, he said. However, it's hard to say what this similarity means, if anything, he said.