The “neurosphere assay” developed at the IUF uses human neural progenitor cells growing in three dimensions to study early brain development processes in culture (in vitro). The next step is now to investigate to what extent this in vitro test mirrors brain development in living organisms (in vivo). Comparing human cell systems with those of rats and mice will also answer the question to what extent development processes of rodents are transferable to those in humans.

http://www.iuf-duesseldorf.de/news-details/items/iuf-erhaelt-12-mio-euro-vom-bmbf-zur-validierung-eines-neuen-testverfahrens.html