Organoids are three-dimensional cellular structures grown from stem cells in vitro. They mimic bodily organs, exhibiting similar cellular compositions and functions. They can be used for basic research and offer great promise for medical research in an extremely wide range of fields, such as drug screening, toxicity tests, and individual drug-response.
Through this White Paper, the German Stem Cell Network (GSCN) and the Interdisciplinary Research Group (IAG) Gene Technology Report of the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities (BBAW) hope to raise public awareness of this research field and stimulate an interdisciplinary public debate on organoids. The GSCN report on organoids offers a tour of the latest developments in this major research field and of current and potential future applications. The focus is on current organoid research projects and companies, with viewpoints from a range of researchers and stakeholders. This is followed by the IAG’s core statements and recommendations for action on the use of organoids.