Sarah Verma

Human Stem Cell-Derived Organoids Address Top Medical Leading Causes of Death in The US

Started Mar. 21, 2023

Abstract or project description

Organoids are a newfound way to model and recapitulate many aspects of various body systems and diseases in an in vitro setting. Described as mini organs in a dish, organoids are kept in 3D cultures and have successfully modeled diseases that currently have no cures. Currently, cancer, Alzheimer’s Disease (AD), and Diabetes Mellitus are 3 of the top 7 leading medical causes of death1 and are all examples of the diseases these organoids can be used to model. For cancers, tumor organoids have already been able to model stomach, colorectal, liver, pancreatic, prostate, and breast cancers. Cerebral organoids can be used to model Alzheimer’s Disease pathologies, such as neurofibrillary tangles and beta-amyloid plaques, which have been a challenge to model for researchers in the past. Lastly, islet organoids used for modeling diabetes have grown to be the same size as their in vivo counterparts, making them easier to examine and study. While there are many benefits to using organoids as a way of modeling these diseases, there are some limitations. These limitations may include that organoids are still very rough representations of the organ system or disease that they are modeling and that they are hard to grow and maintain in a lab setting. Regardless, organoids have great potential since they model in vivo systems much more accurately than other types of 2D and animal models do. The impact of organoid research is seen in drug screening, immunotherapy, and even personalized medical treatments.