A Groundbreaking Brain Map Could Revolutionize Parkinson’s Treatment

Detailed map of the developing human brain opens new pathways for Parkinson's treatment

Scientists from Duke-NUS Medical School and their collaborators have created one of the most comprehensive single cell maps of the developing human brain. The atlas captures nearly every cell type, their genetic fingerprints, and how they grow and interact. It also benchmarks best-in-class laboratory methods for producing high-quality neurons, marking a major step toward new therapies for Parkinson's disease and other brain disorders.

A groundbreaking brain map could revolutionize Parkinson’s treatment

Duke-NUS scientists unveiled BrainSTEM, a revolutionary single-cell map that captures the full cellular diversity of the developing human brain. The project’s focus on dopamine neurons provides crucial insight for Parkinson’s treatment. Their findings reveal flaws in current lab-grown models while offering a precise, open-source standard for future research. It’s a leap toward more accurate brain modeling and powerful cell-based therapies.

BrainSTEM Atlas Maps Every Cell of the Developing Human Brain

Scientists have built one of the most comprehensive single-cell maps of the developing human brain. The new BrainSTEM framework analyzed nearly 680,000 fetal brain cells to chart their growth and interactions, offering a detailed reference for studying neuron development.

BrainSTEM Atlas Maps the Developing Brain, Revealing Clues to Parkinson's

Researchers at Duke-NUS Medical School have developed a detailed single-cell atlas of the developing human brain, offering a new reference point for evaluating lab-grown neurons used in Parkinson’s disease (PD) research and other brain disorders. The study, titled “BrainSTEM: A single-cell multi-resolution fetal brain atlas reveals transcriptomic fidelity of human midbrain cultures,” and published in Science Advances, introduces a two-tier mappi…