Category: News

BioTechniques featured an in-depth article about the Lindström lab’s “decade-long odyssey to better understand the nephron (the functional unit of the kidney), the cells that construct it and how we can model it,” as well as the recent Nature Communications papers first authored by Jack Schnell and MaryAnne Achieng. To read more, visit https://www.biotechniques.com/interview/navigating-the-nephron-with-novel-hyper-characterized-organoids.  …Continue Reading BioTechniques: Navigating the nephron with novel hyper-characterized organoids

Scientists combine kidney filtering and urine-concentrating components to create “assembloids,” the most mature and complex kidney structures ever grown in a lab and a tool for developing new therapies. A USC Stem Cell-led research team has achieved a major step forward in the effort to build mouse and human synthetic kidneys. In a new paper…Continue Reading USC Stem Cell-led team makes major advance toward building a synthetic kidney

In the lab, it’s easier to grow simple balls of cells than complex asymmetrical structures with two distinct ends—like the one million filtering units, or nephrons, that make up a human kidney. But new research unveils a blueprint that makes it possible to generate specific kidney cell types on demand—cells that hold immense value for…Continue Reading USC Stem Cell scientists unlock blueprint for lab-grown kidney cells with preclinical value

How similar is kidney development in humans and in the lab mice that form the foundation of basic medical research? In a new study published in Developmental Cell, USC Stem Cell scientists probe this question by comparing the activity and regulation of the genes that drive kidney development in lab mice and humans. “While we…Continue Reading USC Stem Cell study maps how genes instruct kidneys to develop differently in mice and humans

To help patients in need of transplants, artificial kidneys would have to function like their natural counterparts, but they wouldn’t necessarily have to look like them. With a new $1 million prize from the Kidney Innovation Accelerator, or KidneyX, a team of USC Stem Cell scientists led by Nils Lindström in collaboration with Leonardo Morsut…Continue Reading USC Stem Cell’s journey towards 1,000 mini-kidneys begins with $1 million from KidneyX

Congratulations to PhD candidate MaryAnne Achieng, who won second place in the 2022 Winter BioRender contest. The contest, supported by the Keck School of Medicine of USC’s Office of Research and USC Stem Cell, showcases the artistic skills of the medical school’s researchers. To read more, visit https://keck.usc.edu/communicating-science-visually-phd-candidate-mukund-iyer-takes-first-place-in-2022-winter-biorender-contest….Continue Reading MaryAnne Achieng wins award in 2022 Winter BioRender contest

When it comes to building a kidney, only nature possesses the complete set of blueprints. But a USC-led team of scientists has managed to borrow some of nature’s pages through a comprehensive analysis of how kidneys form their filtering units, known as nephrons. Published in the journal Developmental Cell, the study from Andy McMahon’s lab…Continue Reading USC-led study traces the blueprints for how human kidneys form their filtering units