A new study suggests that growing in a stressful environment prevents “brains-in-a-dish” from growing in the same way as their in vivo counterparts.

Three-dimensional tissue cultures grown from cancer patients’ own tumors can predict responses to the drug irinotecan.

Scientists are devising human-animal hybrids for harvesting human organs, but lab-derived mini-organs are a less ethically fraught solution to meeting the need for transplantation.

After growing in culture for a few months, the mini-brains produced rhythmic neural activity that strengthened over time.

Scientists are devising human-animal hybrids for harvesting human organs, but lab-derived mini-organs are a less ethically fraught solution to meeting the need for transplantation.

The three-dimensional cell cultures are still in the development phase, but researchers are excited about their use to predict patients’ responses to various treatment options.

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The move reflects scientists using more cell lines and organoids in genetic research, although some experts disagree with the decision to scale back the use of animal models.

Researchers hope that “lympho-organoids” could eventually treat lymphedema in humans, but the technique is currently a proof-of-concept.