Using Stem Cells to Cure Autism, Epilepsy & Schizophrenia | Dr. Sergiu Pașca

Huberman Lab

Scicomm Media

Science, Health & Fitness, Life Sciences

4.8 • 26.2K Ratings

🗓️ 18 August 2025

⏱️ 143 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

My guest is Dr. Sergiu Pașca, MD, professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Stanford University. We discuss the biology and genetics of autism, why autism diagnoses are increasing and recent progress in using stem cells to understand and treat profound autism and other brain disorders. Dr. Pașca explains “organoids and assembloids”—human stem cell–derived tools he pioneered to study, treat and cure complex brain diseases. We also discuss ethical and safety issues with using gene editing and stem cells in humans. Read the episode show notes at hubermanlab.com. Thank you to our sponsors AG1: https://drinkag1.com/huberman David: https://davidprotein.com/huberman Helix: https://helixsleep.com/huberman BetterHelp: https://betterhelp.com/huberman Function: https://functionhealth.com/huberman Timestamps (00:00) Sergiu Pașca (02:08) Autism Spectrum Disorder, Incidence, Genetics (07:16) Is Autism More Common in Males? (09:35) Sponsors: David & Helix Sleep (11:56) Eye Contact in Babies, Fever; Proposed Causes of Autism; Genes (18:48) Genetic or Idiopathic Autism Diagnoses, Timothy Syndrome (21:37) Rise in Autism Diagnoses (26:46) Cause, Correlation & Neurological Disease; Schizophrenia, Do Vaccines Cause Autism? (31:34) Global Increase in Autism; Gene Therapy, CRISPR, Follistatin (41:05) Sponsors: AG1 & BetterHelp (43:41) Stem Cells, Ethics, Yamanaka Factors, Human Stem Cell Models (52:03) Umbilical Stem Cells; Stem Cell Injections & Dangers, Autistic Kids (59:30) Organoids, Modeling Brain Development, Intrinsic Development Timer (1:12:22) Assembloids, Brain Cell Migration & Circuit Formation, Self-Organization (1:21:22) Four-Part Assembloid, Sensory Assembloid, Pain Conditions (1:25:45) Sponsor: Function (1:27:33) Future Medical Therapies, Cell Banking, Immortalize Tissues, Rejuvenate Cells (1:34:56) Assembloids & Ethics, Importance of Nomenclature, Science Collaboration & Self-Correction (1:45:38) Cell Transplantation & Ethics, Timing (1:55:05) Genetic Testing for Parents, Genetic Penetrance (2:02:36) Assembloids, Timothy Syndrome, Epilepsy, Schizophrenia, Dystonia (2:14:30) Scientific Career, Walking, Art, Medical School (2:20:44) Zero-Cost Support, YouTube, Spotify & Apple Follow & Reviews, Sponsors, YouTube Feedback, Protocols Book, Social Media, Neural Network Newsletter Disclaimer & Disclosures Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to the Huberman Lab podcast, where we discuss science and science-based tools for everyday life.
0:08.7	I'm Andrew Huberman, and I'm a professor of neurobiology and ophthalmology at Stanford School of Medicine.
0:15.0	My guest today is Dr. Sergio Paska.
0:17.6	Dr. Sergio Paska is a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences and the director
0:22.1	of the Stanford Brain Organogenesis program.
0:24.9	During today's episode, we discuss autism, schizophrenia,
0:28.1	and human brain development generally,
0:30.1	both brain development during pregnancy,
0:32.2	as well as during childhood,
0:33.4	and leading all the way up to our third decade of life.
0:36.4	During today's discussion, you will get the most up-to-date information about autism and its treatments.
0:41.7	You'll learn why the prevalence of autism is rising, the role that genes play in autism,
0:46.3	and the novel treatments that Dr. Posca is developing to treat what is called profound autism,
0:51.0	which are the most severe cases of autism.
0:53.5	Dr. Posca is one of a small handful of researchers that pioneered the discovery and development
0:58.0	of what are called organoids and assembloids, which are essentially human brain circuits derived
1:02.8	from stem cells that form in a dish so that one can study them directly.
1:07.3	And while that might sound artificial, today he explains why those organoids and
1:11.0	assembloids are immensely powerful for understanding exactly what is wrong in psychiatric illnesses
1:16.0	like profound autism, schizophrenia, and other psychiatric challenges, and for developing
1:20.8	cures. So today, you're going to learn a lot about human brain development and about stem
1:25.8	cells, which is going to be important for anyone
	...

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