Artificial Reality

A sportsperson who only trains in perfect controlled conditions might struggle to replicate their form in the hectic environment of real competition. A similar mismatch can occur when scientists investigate the biology of human disease in cells in their lab, but observe different results when the myriad other factors interfere with similar cells in the body. Researchers aiming to improve their artificial test environments have developed hydrogels in which pancreatic cells and tumours can grow in the lab. Unlike previous gels, this entirely synthetic substance can be precisely replicated to allow more consistent experimentation. It successfully sustained pancreatic organoids – miniature organ replicas – and tumours derived from mouse (pictured) or human patient cells, as well as supporting common surrounding cells from the immune system (green and orange), meaning it gives a good proxy for the human body and provides an arena to test new cancer drugs in a realistic environment.

Written by Anthony Lewis

Anthony Lewis

Writer

Ant was the web editor in the early days of BPoD, and has since worked with the UK’s top science organisations as a writer and multimedia producer. He now splits his time between freelance work and managing multimedia at The Lancet.

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• Image by Christopher R. Below and Joanna Kelly
• Cancer Research UK Manchester Institute, The University of Manchester, Manchester, UK
• Image originally published with a Creative Commons Attribution – NonCommercial – NoDerivs (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)
• Research published in Nature Materials, September 2021