Miniature Stomach Grown from Stem Cells

摘要

For the first time, scientists have grown a fully functioning, miniature human stomach using stem cells, guiding them through the stages of development seen in an embryo. The lumps of living tissue, which are no bigger than a sesame seed, have a gland structure that is similar to human stomachs and can even harbour gut bacteria. The researchers - from Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Centre in Ohio, USA - say their creation, which they call 'gastric organoids' is an unprecedented tool that could also be used to study an array of diseases that threaten public health, such as cancer and metabolic disorders and to test the stomach's response to drugs. According to them, this first-time molecular generation of mini stomachs presents new opportunities for drug discovery, modelling early stages of stomach cancer and studying some of the underpinnings of obesity-related diabetes (Nature, 29 October 2014 doi:org/10.1038aturel3863).