Tiny human adrenal glands similar to those found in 4-month-old fetuses have been grown from stem cells in the lab for the first time. The achievement may help to develop treatments for conditions in which these glands don’t function properly.
Adrenal glands are located in the kidneys and make molecules that are involved in our metabolism, our response to stress and the production of sex hormones.
Previous attempts to grow small versions of the glands from induced pluripotent stem (IPS) cells – adult cells that have been coaxed to revert to a form where they have the potential to develop into almost any cell type – have failed to create something similar to the glands found in the body.
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