Scientists at Cincinnati’s Children’s Hospital say they have used stem cells to create a stomach in the lab.
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The 3D creations will be used to study ulcers, stomach cancer and obesity-related diabetes. Experts also hope to grow tissue in the future to repair patients’ stomachs.
They managed to grow mini-organs in a petri dish. The creations were the size of a pea and shaped like rugby balls and respond to infections in a similar way to ordinary stomachs.
James Wells, principal investigator and a scientist at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, said: “Until this study, no one had generated gastric cells from human pluripotent stem cells. There hasn’t been any good way to study human stomach disease before because animals just don’t get the same diseases.
“In addition, we discovered how to promote formation of three-dimensional gastric tissue with complex architecture and cellular composition.”
The collaboration follows in the footsteps of scientists in Massachusetts who last year created kidneys and transplanted them into rats.