New 3D method used to grow miniature pancreas model

KurzweilAI: "An international team of researchers led by scientists from the University of Copenhagen has successfully developed an innovative 3D method to grow a miniature pancreas model from progenitor cells.

The goal is to use this model to help in the fight against diabetes.

Using cell material from mice, Professor Anne Grapin-Botton and her team at the Danish Stem Cell Centre developed a three-dimensional culture method, allowing pancreatic cells to grow vividly in picturesque tree-like structures.

“The new method allows the cell material to take a three-dimensional shape, enabling them to multiply more freely. It’s like a plant where you use effective fertilizer; think of the laboratory like a garden and the scientist being the gardener,” says Grapin-Botton.

In the future, the researchers hope to produce a miniature human pancreas from human stem cells. These human miniature organs would be valuable as models to test new drugs fast and effective — without the use of animal models."