Why Haven't Organoids Solved Drug Discovery? The Matrigel Bottleneck
anshulkundaje · x · 2026-07-28
Following a deep-dive essay on why organoids haven't revolutionized drug discovery, experts highlighted the core reasons why biology is notoriously hard to systematize.
- The Reagent Bottleneck: Matrigel, a core reagent for culturing organoids, exhibits massive lot-to-lot variation with no viable alternatives.
- Challenges in Synthesis: While proposing a fully synthetic matrigel seems sensible, it would require producing hundreds of proteins. Even if microbes could manufacture them, improper glycosylation would negate their critical signaling functions.
- Biological Complexity: Structural proteins like collagens double as signaling molecules, making the artificial reconstruction of cellular microenvironments extremely difficult.
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