· Repairing brains in fruit flies· Regenerating spines in salamanders· Stopping rogue stem cells Briefing 11:30am-12:30pm, Thursday 21 June 2018· How lab-grown organs are leading to new treatmentso From model brains to autismo Making mini-brains and other organso Gene editing tools in organoids for drug screening
More below
Salamanders, fish, and flies: 7:30-8:30am
Small organisms and insects have long been studied by scientists for the valuable insights they provide into human biology and disease.
Model systems such as those found in bacteria, flies, worms, fish and mice, are advancing knowledge of development, disease, and the discovery of potential treatments at a rate and scale that surpasses what is learned from human cells and systems. This panel will talk about how their work is informed by studying other species.
Peter Currie, Australia—What zebrafish can teach us about muscle injury recovery and organ growth
Andrea Brand, UK—Using fruit flies to figure out how to activate brain stem cells for repair after injury or disease
Elly Tanaka, Austria—What humans can learn from axolotl and salamander limb, eye and spinal cord regeneration
Allison Bardin, France—How fruit flies are helping us understand how human ageing can lead to cancer when adult stem cells go rogue
Technologies revolutionising the field, 11:30am-12:30pm
Genome editing technology like CRISPR has revolutionised scientific research, making it relatively easy to edit and correct the DNA of living cells.
3D-culltured organoids and human body-on-a-chip technologies are providing valuable insights into understanding human tissues and organs, and allowing researchers to test and screen for drug therapies.
This panel will discuss how technology and big data are being used in the lab and clinic today to better understand disease and develop novel treatments that could save lives.
Alysson Muotri, US—What brain-model technology can tell us about human neurodevelopment, evolution and autism
Matthias Lutolf, Switzerland—Guiding self-assembling properties of stem cells to make functional organ-on-a-chip technology
Fred Gage, US—Maturing lab-grown mini-brains into tissues with blood vessel and nerve connections
Shuibing Chen, US—Exploring how CRISPR gene editing tools can be used with organoids for drug testing
