Growing a new human kidney

There are three reasons to generate a new human kidney. The first is to learn more about the biology of the developing and mature organ. The second is to generate tissues with which to model congenital and acquired kidney diseases. In particular, growing human kidneys in this manner should ultimately help to understand the mechanisms of common chronic kidney diseases such as diabetic nephropathy and others featuring fibrosis, as well as nephrotoxicity. The third is to provide functional kidney tissues that can be directly used in regenerative medicine therapies. The last two reasons to grow new human kidneys are especially compelling given the millions of individuals worldwide whose lives depend on a functioning kidney transplant or long-term dialysis, as well as those with end stage renal disease who die prematurely, unable to access these treatments. As reviewed here, the aim to create healthy human kidney tissues has been partially realised. Moreover, the technology shows promise in terms of modelling genetic disease. By contrast, barely the first steps have been taken towards modelling non-genetic chronic kidney diseases or using newly grown human kidney tissue for regenerative medicine therapies.