Brain Waves: Why Are Scientists Transplanting Human Neurons into Rat Brains?

A team of scientists at Stanford University recently transplanted human neurons into rat brains, hoping to open new pathways of research into neuropsychiatric disorders like epilepsy and schizophrenia. But what exactly are these scientists doing? And is it ethical to create these human-rat chimaeras? We explore further with neurogeneticist Dr Azlina Ahmad Annuar, and developmental neurogeneticist Assoc Prof Dr Michael Ling from Universiti Putra Malaysia. 

Image Credit: Stanford University/PA