Scientists require appropriate cell or tissue material to observe and understand their favorite biological phenomena. Animal models, 2D monolayer cell cultures, and 3D organoids are common systems that allow biologists to discover new processes and functions from a single cell to the whole organism.
While model organism and 2D cell culture techniques offer unique advantages, they remain inadequate for studying complex human physiology and diseases. For example, animal models fail to capture human-specific biological processes and are not amenable to high-throughput imaging and drug screening assays. Additionally, cellular physiology differs in 2D human cell cultures compared to in vivo, and cultures cannot reliably capture cell morphology, cell-cell interactions, and other cell and tissue functions. Human patient-derived 3D organoids that closely resemble in vivo tissue in structure and function overcome the limitations of other systems, making them one of the most accurate model systems for understanding human health.1,2
Because of their ...
