HEALTHY AGING

AN INTRODUCTION TO ORGANOIDS  

The revolutionary platform for personalized care and medical research.

“In a chamber deep within the Judean Hills, suspended in liquid nitrogen at a mind-nunumbingly cold -320o are amazing new tools that are transforming health care.”

ORGANOIDS WHAT?

Tiny clumps of tissue developed from stem cells that function much as tissues do in the human body.

The organoids, which range in size from several millimeters to less than the width of a hair, have been grown in the labs of the Hadassah Medical Organization. They are being used both to research diseases and determine the best treatment for individual patients. Opened in 2020, it is the first biobank of its kind in Israel and one of only a handful worldwide.

To date, 145 patients have contributed cells from which organoids can be derived.  Among these contributors is a 48 year-old woman who battled an aggressive breast cancer for eight years. Her oncologist had contacted the center and with the patient’s approval, her cells were sent to the biobank.

Within a week we derived sufficient organoids from this patients tumor cells to screen several possible medications.  We found that an FDA-approved drug, not generally used in cancer patients offered her the best outcome.

The organoids created from these cells are not only helping patients — ending the trial and error of traditional clinical care — they are also being used as the best model for investigating human disease.

Also being investigated at the center is the hereditary eye disease retinitis pigmentosa, which blind sufferers by destroying the retina vital light-absorbing photorecept.

Progress has been made since the technology was developed in the Netherlands in 2009. “At Hadassah we grow organoids from almost any tissue in  the human body.”, said Dr. Myriam Grunewald.

THIS TECHNOLOGY IS RACING FORWARD and we have much to thank these dedicated men and women in Hadassah!!!