For the first time, scientists have made lab-grown stomachs in a petri dish. The feat was accomplished at the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center in the Pluripotent Stem Cell Facility. By inducing stem cells to become stomach cells, the researchers managed to create these pea-sized organs, called “gastric organoids,” which are essentially miniature versions of the section of the human stomach that connects to the intestine, called the antrum.
According to James Wells, who led the research, this discovery will pave the way towards being able to better study stomach diseases. Previously, the best models for research have been cultured stomach cells and lab mice – neither of which are completely representative of the human stomach. These gastric organoid mini-models will provide a way to observe much more accurately how bacteria interact with and grow in the stomach.
“This is the hallmark of infection. “We can now very effectively study the bacteria and how it generates diseases. This has never been possible before with human tissue in vitro.”
While other miniature organs, including kidneys and windpipes, have already been grown in labs, stomachs were more difficult because scientists didn’t understand exactly how to grow them from stem cells. Now, the lab-grow models are being used to study how the stomach interacts with harmful bacteria – including H.pylori, a persistent bacterium that is known to cause stomach cancer and gastric ulcers. Ed Yong reports in National Geographic:
“There’s a lot of potential there. You could see how different strains of H.pylori affect people from different parts of the world, for example. We know this match between host and microbes is important. In some regions, people have much higher rates of stomach cancer because they carry H.pylori strains that don’t share their ancestry. With organoids, perhaps scientists can work out why that is, or whether your particular strains are going to cause trouble in your particular stomach.”
