Organs on a Chip

Quinton Smith, an assistant professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering at one of the colleges I attended, the University of California (Irvine), is working on organoids -- "organs-on-a-chip." Stem cells are grown in "three-dimensional gel molds" to mimic human organs in order to explore "how tissues interact." For example, he has reprogrammed stem cells into liver cells to study the connection between liver disease and diet; he grows miniature placentas to investigate preeclampsia. Lab-grown organoids have an ethical advantage over animal experimentation. They're also preferable to animals, which aren't precise counterparts of human subjects, in being composed of actual human cells.

The Organsmith

Here's a Wikipedia article explaining the process in greater depth and technical detail:

Organoids

Of course, I realize these scientists aren't creating independently living organisms, much less generating life from inanimate matter, but the concept still sounds intriguingly Frankensteinian.

Remember the lab-grown miniature brains being studied by neuroscientists?

Artificially Grown Mini-Brains

It's fun to imagine the mini-brains attaining sapience, then conspiring to radicalize the other organoids, overthrow the experimenters, break out of the lab, and rampage through the wider world like the Blob in the vintage movie.

Margaret L. Carter

Please explore love among the monsters at Carter's Crypt.