Cited by 2,187Pluripotent Stem Cells Research3D Printing in Biomedical ResearchCancer Cells and Metastasis

Human organoids: model systems for human biology and medicine

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Kim, Jihoon, Koo, Bon-Kyoung, Knoblich, Juergen A.·2020·Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology

Abstract

The historical reliance of biological research on the use of animal models has sometimes made it challenging to address questions that are specific to the understanding of human biology and disease. But with the advent of human organoids - which are stem cell-derived 3D culture systems - it is now possible to re-create the architecture and physiology of human organs in remarkable detail. Human organoids provide unique opportunities for the study of human disease and complement animal models. Human organoids have been used to study infectious diseases, genetic disorders and cancers through the genetic engineering of human stem cells, as well as directly when organoids are generated from patient biopsy samples. This Review discusses the applications, advantages and disadvantages of human organoids as models of development and disease and outlines the challenges that have to be overcome for organoids to be able to substantially reduce the need for animal experiments.

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Crossref · 10.1038/s41580-020-0259-3

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  • Several patient-derived organoid models, including pancreas, colorectal, and liver cancer, exhibit heterogeneous responses to known chemotherapeutic and anticancer agents.

    “In particular, for cancer treatment, several different patient-derived organoid models tested, including but not limited to: pancreas, colorectal and liver cancer all exhibit heterogeneous responses to known chemotherapeutic and anticancer agents49,132,212.”

    From Organoids (2022) · cites this paper as [212]

    The cancer-organoid discussion (section labelled “Box 2 | Human organoids and SARS-coronavirus 2”; page unavailable) identifies models derived from colon, pancreatic and liver cancers and describes differing drug activity in matched cancer organoids. The References list drug-screening studies for these cancers, but the review does not establish that organoids from each of the three cancer types exhibited heterogeneous responses to chemotherapeutic or anticancer agents. (LLM, conf=0.83)

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  • Human brain organoids can fully replicate human biology and potentially reduce translational barriers from experimental findings to therapeutic applications.

    “Meanwhile, being entirely derived from human cells, these organoids can fully replicate human biology and potentially reduce the translational barriers from experimental findings to therapeutic applications (20–22), offering advantages over animal models (23–25).”

    From Understanding monocyte-driven neuroinflammation in Alzheimer’s disease using human cortical organoid microphysiological systems (2025) · cites this paper as [20]

    The ‘Bridging the gap between animal models and humans’ section says human organoids may represent human tissue more accurately than animal models, and the Conclusions describe their potential in clinical translational research. But ‘Assessing interactions with other organs and the environment’ says organoids mimic only part of the human body, so the claim that brain organoids can fully replicate human biology overstates the source. Page numbers are unavailable in our copy. (LLM, conf=0.90)

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  • The versatile skin OTC-based platform is ideally suited for investigating a broad range of physiological and pathological scenarios, with significant potential for advancing understanding of skin developmental biology, disease modeling, and regenerative medicine.

    “The versatile skin OTC-based platform is ideally suited for investigating a broad range of physiological and pathological scenarios, presenting significant potential for advancing our understanding of skin developmental biology, disease modeling, and applications in regenerative medicine [69–71].”

    From Diversity of human skin three-dimensional organotypic cultures (2024) · cites this paper as [71]

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  1. In this review, Huch and Koo summarize the development of various organoid culture systems and compare mouse and human systems.

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Authors
Kim, J., Koo, B.-K., & Knoblich, J. A.
Affiliations
Institute of Molecular Biotechnology (AT)
Corresponding author
  • Koo, Bon-Kyoung
  • Knoblich, Juergen A.
Venue
Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology
Published
2020-07-07
Volume
21
Issue
10
Pages
571-584
ISSN
  • 1471-0072 (ISSN-L)
  • 1471-0080
OpenAlex
W3040646360
Cited by
2,187
References
210
Citations by year
2026: 311 · 2025: 410 · 2024: 409 · 2023: 381 · 2022: 352 · 2021: 291 · 2020: 31
FWCI
25.25
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders
  • Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften
  • Austrian Science Fund (Z_153_B09)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Pluripotent Stem Cells Research
  • Physical Sciences › Engineering › Biomedical Engineering › 3D Printing in Biomedical Research
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Oncology › Cancer Cells and Metastasis
Keywords
human organoids, stem cell-derived organoids, alternative to animal models, disease modeling, organogenesis, infectious diseases, genetic disorders, tumor models, patient-derived organoids, drug discovery
MeSH terms
Animals, Biology, Communicable Diseases, Genetic Engineering, Humans, Medicine, Neoplasms, Organoids, Stem Cells, Genetic Diseases, Inborn

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