A brief history of organoids

Abstract

In vitro cell cultures are crucial research tools for modeling human development and diseases. Although the conventional monolayer cell cultures have been widely used in the past, the lack of tissue architecture and complexity of such model fails to inform the true biological processes in vivo. Recent advances in the organoid technology have revolutionized the in vitro culture tools for biomedical research by creating powerful three-dimensional (3D) models to recapitulate the cellular heterogeneity, structure, and functions of the primary tissues. Such organoid technology enables researchers to recreate human organs and diseases in a dish and thus holds great promises for many translational applications such as regenerative medicine, drug discovery, and precision medicine. In this review, we provide an overview of the organoid history and development. We discuss the strengths and limitations of organoids as well as their potential applications in the laboratory and the clinic.

Keywords: disease modeling; organoids; precision medicine; regenerative medicine.

Fig. 1.

Timeline for the development of organoid cultures. A summary of key landmark studies and breakthroughs leading to the establishment of various organoid technologies. 3D, 3-dimensional; ECM, extracellular matrix; ESCs, embryonic stem (ES) cells; hPSCs, human pluripotent stem cells; iPSCs, induced pluripotent stem cells.

Fig. 2.

Diverse applications of organoid technology. Schematic diagram summarizing various applications of organoids in many areas, including developmental biology, disease modeling, precision medicine, regenerative medicine, toxicology, drug discovery studies, host-microbiome interactions, gene editing, multiomics, and phylogenetic studies.