Ridiculously tiny stomachs created for disease experiments

Posted: October 30, 2014 at 1:59 pm

Miniature stomachs which measure just 3mm wide have been created by scientists to help replicate how diseases develop in the tummy.

The organoids have been created from stem cells and could be used to help develop new treatments in the future.

They have a complex 3D structure and are lined with various kinds of functioning cell mimicking those of a real stomach.

In tests, scientists used the tiny stomachs to study infection by Helicobacter pylori, the bacteria linked to peptic ulcers and stomach cancer.

Potentially the organoids offer a better way to study human stomach diseases and drug treatments than animals, whose gut physiology is unlike that of humans.

Stem cell scientists have previously generated gut organoids mimicking the intestine, and brain organoids containing nerve tissue.

The latest research appears in the journal Nature.

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Ridiculously tiny stomachs created for disease experiments

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