Stem cells collected in late pregnancy herald advances in prenatal medicine

Kidney organoid grown from fetal stem cells - Kidney organoid. Credit:  Giuseppe Calà, Paolo De Coppi and Mattia Gerli/UCL. A pioneering approach, developed by researchers at UCL and Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH), means human development can be observed in late pregnancy for the first time, raising the possibility of monitoring and treating congenital conditions before birth. The study, published in Nature Medicine , documents the first time that complex cell models, called organoids, have been grown from human stem cells during an active pregnancy. These 'mini-organs' also retain the baby's biological information. Organoids provide researchers with invaluable tools to study how organs function both when they are healthy and when impacted by disease. The researchers say the stem cell organoids will facilitate monitoring of fetal development in late pregnancy, modelling of disease progression and testing of new treatments for diseases such as congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH).