PREVIEW

There's hope for any Tin Man or Scarecrow lacking a heart or brain - thanks to scientists from Norway who have grown miniature brains and hearts.

Researchers at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) and Oslo University Hospital have grown miniature versions of human organs. The serious point of their research is that the 'organoids' are used to study common human diseases.
In small plastic dishes in the laboratory they grow their mini brains, mini hearts, mini eyes and mini lungs grow.

The research group works to find therapies and medicines to treat diseases with the help of mini organs that they grow. Professor Magnar Bjørås leads the research group Cellular Responses to DNA Damage, which includes 25 researchers.
“Our most important task is to combine basic research with innovation. It involves making ground-breaking discoveries by understanding new aspects of diseases. On the basis of this we study which treatment therapies and applications are possible”, says Professor Magnar Bjørås.
The process of growing mini organs starts with skin cells or blood cells from patients with relevant diseases. In the laboratory, the cells are reversed into stem cells, which are the basis for all organs. Stem cells are the body's reservoir for building organs and replacing damaged cells organs.
In an embryo, the process of transforming stem cells into various organs, starts soon after fertilisation. It is this process that the researchers recreate in the laboratory.
They feed the stem cells with information in the form of growth factors and other chemical compounds that control development and which cause the stem cells to develop into mini brains, mini eyes, mini hearts and mini lungs.
The mini organs are then fed with carbohydrates, oxygen, fatty acids, minerals, amino acids – everything that cells and humans need to live and grow.
When the mini organs have reached a certain stage, researchers can start testing drugs and new therapies to see if this can treat the diseases that the mini organs carry.
The medicines they test are both new and known medicines that are combined in new ways. This is referred to as combination therapies. They are also used for testing gene therapy. In gene therapy, researchers edit genes or introduce new genes.
The mini organs are especially useful as models for rare, hereditary brain diseases such as childhood dementia and Parkinson-like diseases in children. However, the scientists also use the mini organs for brain cancer and for rare, hereditary eye diseases.
Little research has been done on each of the rare diseases in the past due to the fact that by their nature, they are rare. Research into these diseases, however, may have wider applications for more common ailments.
This is because the processes that occur in these rare diseases also occur in diseases that are more widespread. The difference is often the rapidity of disease development. For example, childhood dementia is similar to dementia in older people, but in children the disease develops much faster.
“The brain is extremely complex, and much of the treatment options for brain disorders lie in understanding the complexity within brain cells and mapping communication between brain cells”, adds Professor Bjørås.
The researchers therefore hope that their mini ‘organoids’ will allow numerous medical advances - including one of science’s holy grails, helping to alleviate the suffering caused by dementia.