Toward a CRISPR understanding of gene function in human brain development

Genome-wide association studies pinpoint genetic risk factors for neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs), but the next challenge is to understand the mechanisms through which these genes affect brain development. Two recent CRISPR screens in human brain organoids 1 Li C. Fleck J.S. Martins-Costa C. Burkard T.R. Themann J. Stuempflen M. Peer A.M. Vertesy Á. Littleboy J.B. Esk C. et al. Single-cell brain organoid screening identifies developmental defects in autism. Nature. 2023; 621: 373-380https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-023-06473-y Crossref PubMed Scopus (2) Google Scholar ,2 Meng X. Yao D. Imaizumi K. Chen X. Kelley K.W. Reis N. Thete M.V. Arjun McKinney A. Kulkarni S. Panagiotakos G. et al. Assembloid CRISPR screens reveal impact of disease genes in human neurodevelopment. Nature. 2023; 622: 359-366https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-023-06564-w Crossref Scopus (1) Google Scholar interrogate the function of risk genes for autism spectrum disorder and other NDDs. Genome-wide association studies pinpoint genetic risk factors for neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs), but the next challenge is to understand the mechanisms through which these genes affect brain development. Two recent CRISPR screens in human brain organoids 1 Li C. Fleck J.S. Martins-Costa C. Burkard T.R. Themann J. Stuempflen M. Peer A.M. Vertesy Á. Littleboy J.B. Esk C. et al. Single-cell brain organoid screening identifies developmental defects in autism. Nature. 2023; 621: 373-380https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-023-06473-y Crossref PubMed Scopus (2) Google Scholar ,2 Meng X. Yao D. Imaizumi K. Chen X. Kelley K.W. Reis N. Thete M.V. Arjun McKinney A. Kulkarni S. Panagiotakos G. et al. Assembloid CRISPR screens reveal impact of disease genes in human neurodevelopment. Nature. 2023; 622: 359-366https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-023-06564-w Crossref Scopus (1) Google Scholar interrogate the function of risk genes for autism spectrum disorder and other NDDs.