Human cell research could help to develop cures for multiple genetic and neurological diseases, according to Professor Luke O’Neill.

On this week’s Show Me The Science podcast, Prof O’Neill said that scientists lab grown ‘organoids’ could be the future of modern medicine.

“[Organoids are] clumps of cells in a dish that mimic the real tissue in your body, and you can grow them from neurons,” he said.

“This is really important for neuroscience, because if you can grow, you can’t study brains too easily, can you?

“If you can grow an organoid in a dish that looks like a human tissue - it’s got neurons in it – you can study diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s and so on.”

Human brain organoids are small balls of human brain cells ranging in size from a poppy seed to a pea. Image: BSIP SA / Alamy. 14 July 2022

According to Prof O’Neill, organoids could be used to research a huge range of other diseases and disorders, as they mimic how human organs behave and function.

“We can’t do experiments on humans, that’s a bit tricky and unethical – but if you can grow these organoids you can study a liver in a dish, or a heart in a dish, that kind of thing,” he said.

“They’ve looked at the cell types in those organoids, just to check how representative they are of the real tissue in the body and guess what – some of these organoids are fantastic.

“They mimic exactly the tissue that we’re actually studying in the in the body.”

Research project

Prof O’Neill said organoids are being used by a project involving researchers from over 100 countries called the Human Cell Atlas.

The Atlas was set up in 2016 and has since assisted in the discovery of thousands of different cell types.

“Before this began, there were around 200 different cell types [that were known to] make up a human being,” he said.

“The Cell Atlas got involved and now they’re saying there’s at least 5,000 different cell types.

“So, it’s a bit like we are geographers, and we were missing Brazil and Canada and Australia... The Cell Atlas is revealing brand new cell types that make up our bodies.”

Diversity

Prof O’Neill said that the diversity of the research is especially impressive.

“What’s good about this as well is they’re not just studying cells from a lab in Cambridge, where [the main researcher] is based,” he said.

“So many countries are involved in Europe, North America, parts of Asia – so it’s a wonderfully diverse set of people that are involved in this massive study.”

Prof O’Neill said he has ‘no doubt’ that this research will contribute to overall efforts to improve disease treatments in the future.

Listen back here:

Featured image: Split image showing Professor Luke O'Neill (L) and a scientist using a petri dish (R)