An organoid is a miniaturized and simplified version of an organ produced in vitro in three dimensions that shows realistic micro-anatomy. They are derived from one or a few cells from a tissue, embryonic stem cells or induced pluripotent stem cells, which can self-organize in three-dimensional culture owing to their self-renewal and differentiation capacities. The technique for growing organoids has rapidly improved since the early 2010s, and it was named by The Scientist as one of the biggest scientific advancements of 2013.[1] Organoids are used by scientists to study disease and treatments in a laboratory.Organoids were named Nature's Method of the Year 2017. They have set up a full primer page, though much is gated. The primary promise is that organoids will provide models of human organs that are more representative than flat tissue simples and are cheaper than mouse models.
Researchers have created organoid models to better understand the functioning (and misfunctioning) of the liver, kidney, lungs, stomach, breasts, and much else. There is a good presentation on YouTube here. By far the creepiest research involves chimeric brain organoids.
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