Glossary
| Adult stem cells | Are undifferentiated cells found in differentiated adult tissue that can renew themselves and differentiate to yield all specialised cell types of the tissue from which they originated. |
| Cystic fibrosis | Is a rare and severe hereditary disease that is characterised by thick and sticky mucus leading to predominantly pulmonary and gastrointestinal complications. |
| Gastruloids | Constitute a certain type of organoids that are cultured out of human pluripotent stem cells and that recapitulate early stages of embryonic development. |
| Human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) | Are primitive undifferentiated cells from the human embryo that have the potential to become any of a wide variety of specialised cell types. |
| Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) | Are human body cells that have been reprogrammed to behave like embryonic stem cells, that is, to be able to differentiate into cells that could regenerate and repair many different kinds of damaged or diseased tissues. |
| Organoids | The term organoid means ‘resembling an organ’. Organoids are defined by three characteristics. The cells arrange themselves in vitro into three-dimensional organisation that is characteristic for the organ in vivo, the resulting structure consists of multiple cells found in that particular organ and the cells execute at least some of the functions that they normally carry out in that organ. |
| Human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) | Are human cells that are unspecialised and capable of renewing themselves. They can specialise into different cell types of the human body. hPSCs can be either hESCs or iPSCs. |
| Stem cells | Are cells that have the ability to divide indefinitely in culture and give rise to specialised cells. |