UNSW

A serendipitous discovery in the lab has the potential to revolutionise embryo models and targeted drug therapies. A photo taken from a microscope showing ...

“This is really the first step in what we hope is a platform technology for producing useful tissue models. Kilian says that while this finding is exciting, more work is needed to guide the gastrulation-like processes to form useful tissues. Discovering the next set of materials signals may allow creation of virtually any solid tissue for research purposes, A/Prof. “Unsurprisingly, previous research culturing stem cells on glass or plastic have failed to recapitulate the signals that happen in a body. “This method only demonstrates the early, but very crucial stage in development. Using a technique adapted from the semiconductor industry, defined regions are fabricated across a hydrogel for cells to stick to. The researchers are hopeful they can continue exploring the benefits of their discovery by understanding how materials can guide embryogenesis and beyond. The secret to the success of the UNSW team’s work in the lab is in the structure of the culture that the stem cells were seeded into. But we haven’t really been able to study the process in humans because you can’t study this in the lab without taking developing embryonic tissue. These so-called ‘organoids’, which are barely visible to the naked eye, are already being developed using stem cells for medical research, such as testing the effectiveness of certain drugs. This is one of the reasons that work on embryos left over from IVF is forbidden beyond 14 days, when gastrulation occurs. For instance, you could make an organoid from a patient’s cells, then test therapies aimed at correcting mutations or restoring function.”