Scientists just grew super realistic, miniature colons in the lab and gave them cancer

Scientists created realistic, miniature versions of a colon in the lab and gave them tumors, allowing the team to study colorectal cancer in exquisite new detail. 

These "minicolons"' are so-called organoids, which are 3D structures grown from stem cells such that they resemble full-size organs. In this case, the organoids were grown from mouse cells and driven to mature in a lab dish with the help of growth-inducing chemicals. 

Organoid development has become increasingly popular of late, namely because these miniature structures can more accurately mimic the unique intricacies of organs than traditional models made from cells can. This makes organoids great platforms for studying how diseases develop and progress, as well as for potentially identifying new drugs to treat those illnesses. 

So far, scientists have grown myriad tiny organs from both mouse and human cells. These range from minibrains to tiny replicas of testicles, and scientists are even conducting organoid research in space. 

In this latest installment, scientists have created colon organoids using mouse stem cells, which they say are much more complex than previous models. That's because the new minicolons contain a diverse mix of cells that are carefully arranged to reflect the true organization of the colon. 

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The team first developed this Technology in 2020 as a way to model Healthy intestines. But now, in a new study published Wednesday (April 24) in the journal Nature, they have demonstrated that it's possible to trigger colorectal cancer in these organoids by switching on cancer-driving genes in their tissue.