Objective

Robert GJ Vries, Hubrecht Organoid Technology (HUB), Yalelaan 62, 3584CM, Utrecht, The Netherlands Key to the improvement of preclinical model systems is understanding the biology that the model should represent. The development of the HUB Organoids started in the lab of Hans Clevers with the discovery of the identity of adults stem cells in human epithelial tissues such as intestine and liver (Barker et al., Nature 2007; Huch et al., Nature 2013). After we discovered the adult stem cells, we were able to develop a culture system that allowed for the virtually unlimited, genetically and phenotypically stable expansion of the cells from several animal models and human (Sato et al., Nature 2009, 2011; Gastroenterology 2011; Huch et al., Nature 2013, Cell 2015; Boj et al., Cell 2015). The initial studies in the intestine soon let to the generation of models of a variety of additional organs such as Lung, Liver, Pancreas, Breast, etc. Subsequently, the organoids were shown to be a very power tool for the study of Cancer, Cystic Fibrosis and other diseases (Dekkers, Nat Med 2013; van de Wetering, Cell 2015; Drost et al Nature 2015). More recently, we were able to demonstrate that the in vitro response of organoids correlates with the clinical outcome of the patient from which the organoid was derived (Dekkers et al., Sci Trans Med 2016; Sachs et al., Cell 2018). As such the HUB Organoids appear to faithfully represent a patient in the lab while at the same time being amendable to medium trough put screening. The scalability of the organoids potentially provides a novel approach to screening in early discovery as well as drug development.