Scientists create ‘supermouse’ with half-human brain

SCIENTISTS have injected brain cells from human foetuses into mice to create a ‘supermouse’ four times smarter than normal lab rats.

Grey mouse isolated on white. Thinkstock image 147038185

SCIENTISTS have created a ‘supermouse’ four times smarter than a normal mouse to better understand human brain disease.

University of Rochester Medical Centreresearchers injected brain cells from human foetuses into newborn mice, creating animals with half-human brains.

They found mice with human brain cells had memories four times better than their siblings who weren’t injected.

“We can say they were significantly smarter than control mice,” lead researcher Professor Steve Goldman told New Scientist magazine. “These were whopping effects.”

He said the goal was not to create a new species of ‘supermouse’, but to make mouse brains more human-like so scientists could effectively study brain disease.

Under the microscope ... human brain cells in a mouse glow green after researchers tag them with a gene that looks green under fluorescent light. Picture: University of Rochester Medical Centre

For the study, published in the journal Cell Stem Cell in March, researchers injected glial cells from donated human foetuses (left over from IVF treatments) into the baby mice.

Glial cells help to support and protect neurons, and develop into astrocytes which are vital for co-ordinating thought processes.

Within a year of the injections, scientists said the human cells had taken over the mouse brains.

Professor Goldman said the cells did not make the mice “more human”.

He did acknowledge, however, that the study posed a range of ethical issues. The team refused to injected cells into monkeys.