The problem of launching new drugs on the market has recently become particularly acute. Of course, there is a mass of clinical studies, but the whole process is rather long and laborious. One of the most innovative methods of testing is the use of mini-organs, which are quite expensive in production, but show excellent results. More recently, Swiss scientists from the Polytechnic Federal School have developed a new way to grow mini-organs based on a special hydrogel.
Mini-organs are used to create drugs and test their effectiveness, which makes it possible to refuse to conduct experiments on animals. Scientists assume that in the future such artificially created organs can be used in transplantology to grow already fully functioning body systems.
To create "classic" mini-organs, stem cells are used that grow and differentiate on a special hydrogel carcass, which includes biomolecules, carbohydrates and proteins necessary for growth. Thanks to this frame, the organs take on the desired shape. The problem is that such a hydrogel is a biological material and is created from the tissues of rodents. This does not exclude the risk that allergens and other pathological compounds will be present in such a structure.
Scientists under the direction of Matthias Lyutolf managed to create a synthetic hydrogel, which, naturally, does not contain any pathogens and is absolutely safe. As the author himself admits,
“Using such a hydrogel framework, we have already managed to grow a miniature intestine from intestinal stem cells. The substances that make up ours have a different structure, and their concentration is very easy to control. The risk of infection of a growing organ with any pathogens in this case is minimal, since such organs are much more suitable for use in clinical practice than those that were grown on natural gels earlier. "
The article is based on materials .
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