Lab-Developed Intestinal Organoids

Intestinal tissue is so complex that it may be second only to the brain when it comes to regenerating functional organs. But, researchers at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital have taken an important step in growing bits of human intestine from induced pluripotent stem cells (derived from human skin and blood) in vitro, applying specific nutrients and growth factors for this tissue, and then transplanting the organoids atop mouse kidney.   The result was fully functional, fully human intestinal cell development. While actually growing transplantable tissue for patients likely will be long in coming, this achievement allows drug testing on living human tissue for colon cancer, Crohn’s Disease and various inflammatory bowel disorders.     MORE WITH VIDEO

 Image Credit: Cincinnati Children’s Hospital