The researchers removed the organ of Corti, which is housed
within a seashell - shaped cavity called the cochlea and contains sensory hair cells, from newborn mice and kept the cells alive in
culture plates.
Expanding from their previous studies with mice, the researchers first established that under specific conditions,
culturing human embryonic stem cells with fibroblast growth factor 2 (FGF2) leads to neural differentiation particular to the midbrain / hindbrain region — the location of the cerebellum —
within three weeks, and the expression of markers for the cerebellar
plate neuroepithelium — the part of the developing nervous system specific for the cerebellum —
within five.