Scientists make human stomach tissue with stem cells

Scientists used pluripotent stem cells to generate functional, three-dimensional human stomach tissue in a laboratory — creating an unprecedented tool for researching the development and diseases of an organ central to several public health crises, ranging from cancer to diabetes. Scientists used human pluripotent stem cells — which can become any cell type in the body — to grow a miniature version of the stomach.

The grown tissue will allow researchers to better study illnesses of the stomach, like those that cause ulcers and even cancer. The tissue may even be used as a treatment in and of itself by way of tiny grated patches that would grow over ulcerated stomachs.

The technique could be used within five years or so to create “patches” of tissue to repair ulcers and other stomach damage according to the lead researcher.

Jim Wells, PhD, Divisions of Developmental Biology and Endocrinology at Cincinnati Children’s, explains how the first-time molecular generation of 3D human gastric organoids (hGOs) presents new opportunities for drug discovery, modeling early stages of stomach cancer, studying the underpinnings of obesity related diabetes, and potential tissue regeneration for therapy. Credit: Image courtesy of Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center

Nature – Modelling human development and disease in pluripotent stem-cell-derived gastric organoids

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