Organoids to Model Human Disease

Air date: Wednesday, April 20, 2022, 3PM


Description: WALS - NIH Wednesday Afternoon Lecture

Stem cells are the foundation of all mammalian life. They come in two flavors. Embryonic stem cells are briefly present in the early human or mouse embryo, a few days after fertilization. These stem cells can be grown indefinitely in the lab and have the potential to build each and every tissue in our body. ES cells hold great promise in the field of regenerative medicine. Adult stem cells. Every organ in our body harbors its own dedicated stem cells. These adult stem cells replace tissue that is lost due to wear and tear, trauma and disease. Adult stem cells can only produce the tissue in which they reside. The adult stem cells allow us to live 80-90 years, but this comes at a cost: they easily turn into cancer. Both types of stem cells can be used to establish ‘organoids’, 3D structures established in a dish, that recapitulate many aspects of the original organ - including its diseases.

For more information go to https://oir.nih.gov/wals

Author: Hans Clevers, M.D., Ph.D., Group Leader, Hubrecht Institute for Developmental Biology and Stem Cell Research and the Princess Máxima Center for Pediatric Oncology; Professor at Utrecht University and Oncode Investigator, Netherlands

Permanent link: https://videocast.nih.gov/watch=44246