Tsung-Lin Yang, Department of Otolaryngology, National Taiwan University Hospital and National Taiwan University College of Medicine
Personalized medicine has the potential to offer tailor-made and effective treatment methods for specific individuals and diseases. However, past approaches that often relied on cell lines and genetically modified animal models were limited in their ability to understand patient diversity and disease heterogeneity. Therefore, there is a pressing need for a platform capable of replicating tissue complexity.
Organoids—miniature organs—have emerged as crucial tools for studying human organ tissue function and diseases. They form a vital foundation for personalized medicine by facilitating in vitro exploration of development, disease, and tissue regeneration mechanisms.
Our research has successfully isolated tissue-specific stem cells from different individuals and cultured tissue-specific organoids in the laboratory's bioreactors. These organoids can mimic human tissues and diseases to illustrate an individual's heterogeneity and responses to treatment. They enable high-throughput screening to test an organ's reaction to various drugs and assess treatment effectiveness. This advancement helps contribute to the development of personalized medicine, providing each patient with a treatment plan tailored to their unique needs.
Figure 1: Organoids from various glandular tissues can be cultured in our laboratory at NTU.
Figure 2: In vitro cultivation of glandular organoids exhibits tissue-specific morphology and function.