Driving progress in research into kidney disease in children and young people – Kidney Research UK

Engineering mini kidneys to understand development and disease

Some children are born with kidney disease. It would be extremely useful to be able to grow miniature, simplified versions of kidneys called organoids from cells from babies known to be at risk of kidney disease to study the disease before the baby is born, test potential therapies and possibly even intervene to prevent kidney damage, but there is currently no non-invasive way to do this. 

Developing human foetuses are cushioned in a liquid called amniotic fluid, and this fluid is mostly made up of the developing foetus’ urine, which will contain the same kidney cells as adult urine. Dr Mattia Gerli, from University College London and the Royal Free Hospital, has been awarded a PhD studentship to investigate whether kidney organoids can be grown from samples of amniotic fluid. 

If successful, this would be a huge step towards personalised medicine, allowing researchers to identify and study disease, test potential therapies, and will even open the possibility of correcting kidney problems before a baby is born.