Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • RESEARCH HIGHLIGHT

Nervous stomach: lab-grown organs clench like the real thing

The most complex stomach organoids yet are made with cells from three layers found in developing embryos.
Human gastric tissue engineered from pluripotent stem cells.

A replica stomach grown in the laboratory includes muscle (red), neurons (green) that control stomach-tissue contraction and tissue (white) containing acid glands. Credit: Alexandra Eicher

Scientists have created a sophisticated mini-stomach, complete with nerves that coordinate muscle contraction and glands that make acid, providing hope that such ‘organoids’ could one day be used to repair damaged gastrointestinal tracts1.

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Prices vary by article type

from$1.95

to$39.95

Learn more

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Nature 600, 362 (2021)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-021-03648-3

References

  1. Eicher, A. K. et al. Cell Stem Cell https://doi.org/10.1016/j.stem.2021.10.010 (2021).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Subjects

Latest on:

Nature Careers

Jobs

  • Single Molecule Specialist

    APPLICATION CLOSING DATE: 22.02.2026 Human Technopole (HT) is an interdisciplinary life science research institute, created and supported by the It...

    Milan (IT)

    Human Technopole

  • Chief Architect - High Performance Computing and Data Science

    Leads DSU’s High Performance Computing and Data Science, enabling scalable AI, big data, and scientific computing across all CoE.

    Bangalore (Locality), Karnataka (IN)

    Dayananda Sagar University Bengaluru

  • Chief Architect - Robotics and Embodied AI

    Leads Robotics and Embodied AI, building reasoning-driven robots using large-scale reinforcement learning and sim-to-real intelligence.

    Bangalore (Locality), Karnataka (IN)

    Dayananda Sagar University Bengaluru

  • Chief Architect- Spatial Computing (AR/VR/XR)

    Drive excellence in Spatial Computing (AR/VR/XR), building XR platforms, neural rendering, & digital twins for industry, healthcare, & education.

    Bangalore (Locality), Karnataka (IN)

    Dayananda Sagar University Bengaluru

  • Chief Architect: Cyber Defence & Sovereign Security

    Leads sovereign Cyber Defence & Sovereign Security, advancing threat detection, adversarial AI, quantum-safe security, and national digital trust.

    Bangalore (Locality), Karnataka (IN)

    Dayananda Sagar University Bengaluru

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing

Search

Advanced search

Quick links