According to a study published in the journal Cell, researchers have developed a 3D method to grow pancreatic tissue not only from laboratory mouse models, but also from human patient tissue.
The Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) and The Lustgarten Foundation have jointly developed the work and christened it as three-dimensional “organoid” culture system for pancreatic cancer. Until now, scientists could not culture human normal ductal pancreatic cells under standard laboratory conditions but with this development, scientists can rapidly generate organoids from any patient. This will be of great help in the fight against pancreatic cancer.
Organoids grow as hollow spheres within a complex gel-like substance. They are entirely made of ductal cells and once they grow to a sufficient size, they can be transplanted back into mice, where they fully recapitulate pancreatic cancer.
Scientists can study the pathways driving the disease while searching for new drug targets.
Source: IANS
