Benjamin Freedman, PhD, Assistant Professor of Medicine, Division of Nephrology, Department of Medicine, University of Washington

Location: Health Sciences Building, T-739

Summary: Organoids are multicellular units in vitro that resemble a tissue or organ of the body. Recently, we have generated kidney organoids for the first time, starting with human pluripotent stem cells. Kidney organoids include proximal tubules, distal tubules, and podocytes in nephron-like segments, recapitulating key architectural features of human tissue. Using the CRISPR-Cas gene editing system, we have further generated mutant organoids that express phenotypes of glomerular disease and polycystic kidney disease in vitro. Organoids raise new possibilities for understanding human disease at the cellular level for diagnostic and therapeutic applications.