Medical researchers have developed a radical new alternative to drug testing on laboratory animals. A joint effort from Wake Forest School Institute for Regenerative Medicine and Ohio State University, the new method relies on miniaturized replicas of human organs, called organoids. The team replicated several different types of organs, including a tiny human liver, heart, lungs, blood vessels, testes, colon, and brain. To ensure each organoid develops accurately, the team used multiple cell types, including immune cells, blood vessel cells, and fibroblasts, which build connective tissue in and around organs. Each organoid functions as close to the same as the source organ it replicates, including the tiny heart replica, which beats around 60 times per minute.

Source: Daily Mail March 13, 2020 00:33 UTC