Researchers collected cells from amniotic fluid samples taken during 12 pregnancies between the 16th and 34th weeks of gestation.
Scientists have successfully grown mini-organs from cells floating in the fluid that surrounds a fetus during pregnancy.
These organoids mimic real organs and can be used to test new medical treatments or study how these organs work when they're healthy or diseased.
They then grew mini-organs, including lung, kidney, and small intestine organoids.
Scientists have successfully grown mini-organs from cells floating in the fluid that surrounds a fetus during pregnancy. These organoids, or “organoids,”, are tiny simplified structures that mimic real organs and can be used to test new medical treatments or study how these organs work when they're healthy or diseased.
Researchers from University College London and Great Ormond Street Hospital in the UK collected cells from amniotic fluid samples taken during 12 pregnancies between the 16th and 34th weeks of gestation. They then grew mini-organs, including lung, kidney, and small intestine organoids.
The researchers envision their approach could eventually help doctors monitor and treat congenital diseases that develop in the fetus during pregnancy.
Scientists have created mini-organs from cells floating in the fluid that surrounds a fetus in the womb
Researchers grew organoids from lung, kidney and small intestine cells shed into amniotic fluid collected from 12 pregnancies between the 16th and 34th weeks of gestation
Accuracy
No Contradictions at Time
Of
Publication
Deception
(50%)
The article is deceptive in several ways. Firstly, the author claims that this approach could open up new areas of prenatal medicine when it has already been done before with adult stem cells and fetal tissue after an abortion. Secondly, the author states that collecting cells from amniotic fluid gets around regulations about taking stem cells directly from fetal tissue but fails to mention that there are still restrictions on using fetal tissue for research in some countries such as the U.S.
The article claims this approach could open up new areas of prenatal medicine when it has already been done before with adult stem cells and fetal tissue after an abortion.
The author states that collecting cells from amniotic fluid gets around regulations about taking stem cells directly from fetal tissue but fails to mention that there are still restrictions on using fetal tissue for research in some countries such as the U.S.
Fallacies
(85%)
The article contains several fallacies. The first is an appeal to authority when the author cites a study published in Nature Medicine without providing any evidence or context for its credibility. Additionally, there are multiple instances of inflammatory rhetoric used throughout the article such as phrases like 'excited' and 'potential'. There is also a dichotomous depiction of fetal tissue use when it is described as controversial in some countries but not others without providing any evidence or context for these differences. Finally, there are several examples of informal fallacies such as the slippery slope fallacy when discussing potential uses of this technology.
The author cites a study published in Nature Medicine without providing any evidence or context for its credibility.
Bias
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None Found At Time Of
Publication
Site
Conflicts
Of
Interest (50%)
The author of the article has a conflict of interest with one or more topics provided. The author is Laura Ungar and she works at University College London (UCL) which was involved in the research that led to this article.
Author
Conflicts
Of
Interest (50%)
The author has a conflict of interest on the topics of mini-organs and fetal tissue as they are used in stem cell research. The article mentions that Mattia Gerli is an expert in this field.
Organoids grown from amniotic fluid could shed light on rare diseases
Researchers grew organoids from lung, kidney and small intestine cells shed into amniotic fluid collected from ongoing pregnancies
The researchers first isolated individual cells from the samples and characterized their origins, most were from the epithelial layer which naturally come together and assemble making them ideal for forming organoids
Accuracy
An kidney organoid made from amniotic cells was grown by researchers
Cells taken from the fluid around growing fetuses were used to make organoids
These organoids could help researchers understand diseases that develop in the fetus during pregnancy
Researchers grew organoids from lung, kidney and small intestine cells shed into amniotic fluid collected from 12 pregnancies between the 16th and 34th weeks of gestation
Deception
(100%)
None Found At Time Of
Publication
Fallacies
(85%)
The article contains several fallacies. The author uses an appeal to authority by citing the number of children born with congenital anomalies in the UK without providing any context or explanation for this statistic. Additionally, the author makes a false dilemma by stating that modelling fetal tissue is challenging because researchers have limited access to necessary cells, when there are other options available such as using tissue taken from terminated pregnancies. The article also contains inflammatory rhetoric by describing congenital anomalies as
Bias
(100%)
None Found At Time Of
Publication
Site
Conflicts
Of
Interest (0%)
The author of the article has conflicts of interest on several topics related to organoids grown from amniotic fluid. The author is affiliated with a company that produces products related to kidney tissue and small intestine tissue.
Author
Conflicts
Of
Interest (0%)
The author has conflicts of interest on the topics of amniotic fluid and cells. The article does not disclose these conflicts.
Organoids grown from late-stage foetuses offer boost for prenatal medicine
Scientists have created mini-organs from cells floating in the fluid that surrounds a fetus in the womb
Researchers grew lung organoids from the cells of fetuses with congenital diaphragmatic hernia before and after treatment and compared them to organoids from healthy fetuses
Accuracy
No Contradictions at Time
Of
Publication
Deception
(100%)
None Found At Time Of
Publication
Fallacies
(0%)
The article contains inflammatory rhetoric and appeals to authority.
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Bias
(0%)
The article contains a monetary bias. The author uses language that implies the financial benefits of subscribing to the Financial Times are significant and worth considering.
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Conflicts
Of
Interest (50%)
The article discusses the use of organoids grown from late-stage foetuses for prenatal medicine. The author has a financial interest in this topic as they are an investor in a company that is developing organoid technology.
Organoids could help diagnose and treat fetuses with a serious lung condition called congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH)
Researchers grew organoids from lung cells shed into amniotic fluid collected from 12 pregnancies between the 16th and 34th weeks of gestation
The researchers first isolated individual cells from the samples and characterized their origins, most were from the epithelial layer which naturally come together and assemble making them ideal for forming organoids
Accuracy
No Contradictions at Time
Of
Publication
Deception
(50%)
The article is deceptive in several ways. Firstly, the title implies that organoids made from uterus fluid can help treat fetuses before birth when in fact they are only used to diagnose and potentially treat congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH) after birth. Secondly, the article states that these lung organoids could be modified to help with various other congenital conditions but does not provide any evidence or details on how this would work. Lastly, the author uses sensationalist language such as 'personalised prenatal medicine' and 'functional diagnoses' which are misleading and exaggerate the potential of these organoids.
The title implies that organoids made from uterus fluid can help treat fetuses before birth when in fact they are only used to diagnose and potentially treat congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH) after birth.
The article states that these lung organoids could be modified to help with various other congenital conditions but does not provide any evidence or details on how this would work.
The author uses sensationalist language such as 'personalised prenatal medicine' and 'functional diagnoses' which are misleading and exaggerate the potential of these organoids.
Fallacies
(70%)
The article contains several examples of informal fallacies. The author uses an appeal to authority by citing the expertise of Paolo De Coppi and his colleagues at Great Ormond Street Hospital in London. Additionally, the author uses inflammatory rhetoric when describing congenital diaphragmatic hernia as a 'sometimes-fatal lung condition'. There are also several examples of dichotomous depictions throughout the article, such as when comparing healthy and growing abnormally tissue.
The author uses an appeal to authority by citing Paolo De Coppi's expertise at Great Ormond Street Hospital in London.
The author uses inflammatory rhetoric when describing congenital diaphragmatic hernia as a 'sometimes-fatal lung condition'.
There are several examples of dichotomous depictions throughout the article, such as when comparing healthy and growing abnormally tissue.
Bias
(85%)
The author has a clear bias towards the potential benefits of this new technique for treating fetuses before birth. The language used in the article is positive and optimistic about what this could mean for babies born with serious medical conditions.
> Babies born with serious medical conditions could one day get better diagnoses and treatments while in the uterus, thanks to a new technique that involves taking samples of cells from fluid in the uterus and growing them in a dish. <
< The researchers created lung organoids from the fetuses both before and after the balloon treatment. They saw hints that the organoids created after the treatment were behaving more like healthy lung tissue than the ones made beforehand, suggesting that the treatment was successful. >
The team has now shown that samples of amniotic fluid taken during pregnancy contain fetal cells capable of forming organoids of tissue from the lungs, kidneys and small intestine.
Site
Conflicts
Of
Interest (50%)
Clare Wilson has a conflict of interest on the topic of fetal cells as she is reporting on research conducted at Great Ormond Street Hospital where her husband works.
Author
Conflicts
Of
Interest (50%)
Clare Wilson has a conflict of interest on the topic of fetal cells as she is reporting on research conducted at Great Ormond Street Hospital where her husband works.
