Taking miniature organs from lab to clinic

EPFL scientists have developed a gel for growing miniaturized body organs that can be used in clinical diagnostics and drug development. Organoids are miniature organs that can be grown in the lab from a person's stem cells. They can be used to model diseases, and in the future could be used to test drugs or even replace damaged tissue in patients. But currently organoids are very difficult to grow in a standardized and controlled way, which is key to designing and using them. EPFL scientists have now solved the problem by developing a patent-pending 'hydrogel' that provides a fully controllable and tunable way to grow organoids. The breakthrough is published in Nature . Organoids need a 3D scaffold Growing organoids begins with stem cells - immature cells that can grow into any cell type of the human body and that play key roles in tissue function and regeneration.