A mature intestinal organoid, grown from human pluripotent stem cells and a synthetic growth-promoting hydrogelMIGUEL QUIRÓS, UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGANTo cultivate organoids in culture, scientists bathe them in growth-promoting materials derived from mice. But this limits their use in treating human diseases due to the risk for zoonotic infections. To solve this problem, researchers engineered a synthetic gel that can also do the job.
See R. Cruz-Acuña et al., “Synthetic hydrogels for human intestinal organoid generation and colonic wound repair,” Nature Cell Biology, doi:10.1038/ncb3632, 2017.
Correction (October 27): The original credit for the image incorrectly listed a different coauthor. The Scientist regrets the error.
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