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SUMMARY:Milstein Lecture 2021: Organoids to model human diseases - Hans Cl
 evers\, Professor in Molecular Genetics\, Hubrecht Institute\, Utrecht\, T
 he Netherlands
DTSTART:20211130T110000Z
DTEND:20211130T120000Z
UID:TALK165370@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Scientific Meetings Co-ordinator
DESCRIPTION:Stem cells are the foundation of all mammalian life. Stem cell
 s build and maintain our bodies throughout life. Two types of stem cells a
 re discerned. \n1) Embryonic stem cells (ES cells) are briefly present in 
 the early human or mouse embryo\, a few days after fertilization. These ES
  cells can be grown indefinitely in the lab and have the potential to buil
 d each and every tissue in our body. Because of this ‘pluripotency’\, 
 ES cells hold great promise for therapeutic application in the field of re
 generative medicine. It is also possible to take skin cells (or other cell
 s) from adults and convert these in the lab into cells with ES properties\
 , so called iPS cells. Many of the hurdles that ES cell technology have fa
 ced\, do not exist for iPS cells. \n2) Adult stem cells. Every organ in ou
 r body is believed to harbor its own dedicated stem cells. These adult ste
 m cells replace tissue that is lost due to wear and tear\, trauma and dise
 ase. Adult stem cells are highly specialized and can only produce the tiss
 ue in which they reside\; they are ‘multipotent’. Examples are bone ma
 rrow stem cells that make all blood cells\, skin stem cells and gut stem c
 ells. Even the brain is now known to harbor its specialized stem cells. Th
 e adult stem cells allow us to live 80-90 years\, but this comes at a cost
 : they are the cells that most easily transform into cancer cells. \nBoth 
 types of stem cells can be used to establish ‘organoids’\, 3D structur
 es established in a dish\, that recapitulate many aspects of the organ the
 y represent. Pluripotent stem cells can be taken through the developmental
  steps that establish organs during embryogenesis. This has worked particu
 larly well for parts of the the central nervous system\, the kidney and GI
  organs. We have shown that adult epithelial stem cells carrying the gener
 ic Lgr5 marker can be cultured under tissue-repair conditions and generate
  epithelial organoids directly from healthy and diseased organs such as th
 e gut\, the liver\, the lung and the pancreas. Organoid technology opens a
  range of avenues for the study of development\, physiology and disease\, 
 for drug development and for personalized medicine. In the long run\, cult
 ured mini-organs may replace transplant organs from donors and hold promis
 e in gene therapy. \n
LOCATION:Zoom: https://mrc-lmb-cam-ac-uk.zoom.us/j/96610458150?pwd=RmI5RUZ
 ZU0JRNzBBNlh3NnFWQWpjZz09
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