By Eve Herold –
Amniotic fluid is rich in precursor cells shed by the fetus, according to UK researchers, and those cells can be used to develop tissue-specific organoids for studying congenital defects and rare diseases. While genetic testing of cells in the amniotic fluid has been done for decades to detect chromosomal abnormalities, those cells are generally examined in early pregnancy, leaving the later stages of fetal development shrouded in mystery. In a study led by Paolo di Coppi, a pediatric surgeon, and published in Nature, a safe way was established for culling amniotic fluid cells in late pregnancy, and those cells have been found to be precursors to cells that can develop into organoids for study, including small intestine, lung and kidney-specific tissues. This technique eclipses the current norm in studying congenital defects—imaging—and opens the door to elucidating what actually goes on at the cellular level in malfunctioning organs in the case of birth defects and rare diseases.
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