In 2013 researchers flabbergasted the scientific community. Starting from human stem cells, researchers in his lab managed to grow living three dimensional models of basic units of human brain in a dish. These so called cerebral organoids present an unprecedented 3D cell culture model of human brain development, and have a tremendous potential for medical applications. Thanks to this discovery scientists can examine how networks of living human brain cells develop and function, and how they are affected by different drug compounds or genetic modifications.