Out in space right now, scientists are growing tiny, three-dimensional models of human organs. What may feel like a scene pulled from the beginning of a sci-fi film is actually a relatively new application of a type of research that's already breaking boundaries of discovery back on Earth.
From tiny, beating hearts to "mini-brains," so-called organoids are usually grown from human stem cells that, with the help of a cocktail of growth chemicals, can be pushed to self-organize into 3D structures that resemble tissues in the human body. Unlike traditional animal models, such as mice or monkeys, organoids allow scientists to more accurately recreate the unique intricacies of human organs. Therefore, these tiny organs could help accelerate drug development by helping to reveal which compounds will really work in humans and which ones won't.
