Organen uit stamcellen?

Conflict of interest and financial support for this article: the author received research grants from the EU and NWO. He is the Managing director of the Hubrecht Organoid Technology Foundation (HUB) that aims to use the stem cell organoids for clinical purposes.

• In recent decades the development of new therapies has taken tremendous strides.

• For many diseases, however, the final and only treatment option open is to perform an organ transplant.

• Although these radical operations have greatly improved, the risks associated with them are still substantial. In addition, there is an acute shortage of donor organs.

• Since the discovery of stem cells, the interest to use them as therapy has been great.

• To this end, methods for safely multiplying stem cells have been developed.

• Currently, these stem cell therapies are being given to patients on a small scale. In the near future this kind of therapy is thought to transform treatment of many currently incurable diseases.