Thread

Two parallel neural ectoderm progenitors contribute to the developing brain

664 points · 258 comments · emigre

itvision · 1789800711 · focus · HN ↗
What a way to oversell the discovery.
The reality is:
```
    * Different brain regions have different functions: ancient knowledge.
    * Different regions contain distinct cell types and molecular programs: also well established.
    * Anterior and posterior brain structures may trace back to fundamentally separate progenitor lineages that were independently specified very early in evolution and development: that&#x27;s the interesting new result.
```
The headline should have been: "Human forebrain and hindbrain arise from distinct embryonic progenitor lineages" - not that we have "two organs" in the brain.
1. xg15 · 1789808816 · focus · HN ↗
  > "Human forebrain and hindbrain arise from distinct embryonic progenitor lineages"
  I'd have never clicked that headline nor understood why this finding is important.
  If you think the original headline is not "truthful" enough, at least do something like "Researchers found the reason why hindbrain cells cannot be grown in a lab and found a way to overcome it"
  > not that we have "two organs" in the brain.
  Depends what the definition of "organ" actually is. What speaks for different organs here is that the cells both have a different pathway from stem cells and have different evolutionary histories. That is different from other brain regions that may have separate functions but still evolved together.
  1. rglullis · 1789839524 · focus · HN ↗
    > I'd have never clicked that headline nor understood why this finding is important
    Does this finding change your life in any meaningful way?
    efuquen · 1789840330 · focus · HN ↗
    > Armed with this knowledge, the researchers for the first time successfully coaxed human pluripotent stem cells (a kind of cell that can create any cell in the human body) to become functional hindbrain motor neurons in the laboratory.
    ...
    > The research also has implications for investigating treatments for SMA, ALS and other conditions affecting the brain stem. Until now, studying these diseases has been nearly impossible because scientists cannot obtain brain stem tissue from living patients. The ability to grow these neurons in a dish opens new possibilities for understanding what goes wrong.
    But no, nothing to see here, not worth our time for this overblown article apparently ...
    rglullis · 1789915967 · focus · HN ↗
    > The research also has implications for investigating treatments for SMA, ALS and other conditions affecting the brain stem.
    Are you working on research for any of these? If no, then this article is just "empty calories" in your information diet. If yes, I'd assume (hope, even) that you wouldn't be hearing from this through some institutional PR piece.
    xg15 · 1789941445 · focus · HN ↗
    Because no layman should ever keep up yo date on research?
    By that logic, most of HN is "empty calories". Then why are you here?
    rglullis · 1789993263 · focus · HN ↗
    > most of HN is "empty calories".
    Agree.
    > why are you here?
    For the parts that are not empty calories.

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