Basel, 1 February 2022 Roche (SIX: RO, ROG; OTCQX: RHHBY) today announced that William Pao (1967), M.D., Ph.D., and Head of Roche Pharma Research and Early Development (pRED) since 2018, has decided
Scientists grow human tear glands in a lab and actually make them cry
Dutch researchers have an ambitious vision for their organoid. Listen - 02:47 Getty Images
Disembodied human tear glands that cry sound like something out of a sci-fi movie. But in the Netherlands, functional tear glands that don t attach to anyone s eyes (or emotions) are starring in their own real-life drama.
Researchers from the Hubrecht Institute and UMC Utrecht used stem cells to grow tiny tear glands in a petri dish that mimic the real thing. They hope these so-called organoids can serve as models for studying how the cells in human tear glands produce tears. The ultimate goal: to better understand and treat conditions such as dry eye disease or the autoimmune disorder Sjögren s syndrome, as well as cancers of the tear gland.