AccScience Publishing / OR / Volume 2 / Issue 1 / DOI: 10.36922/OR026090010
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Top 10 organoid research breakthroughs of 2025

Long Bai1,2 ,  Jian Wang3 ,  Yulin Han4 ,  Han Lin5 ,  Wei Zhang6 ,  Junhong Luo7 ,  Lin Lin8 ,  Yifei Miao4 ,  Chenjie Xu9 ,  Jiacan Su1,2,10*
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1 Organoid Research Center, Institute of Translational Medicine, Shanghai University, Shanghai, China
2 MedEng-X Institutes, Shanghai University, Shanghai, China
3 Department of Diagnostic Radiology, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore
4 Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
5 Shanghai Institute of Ceramics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China
6 School of Medicine, Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Biomaterials and Devices, Southeast University, Nanjing, China
7 Department of Systems Biomedical Sciences, School of Medicine, Jinan University, Guangzhou, China
8 Center for Excellence in Molecular Cell Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China
9 Department of Biomedical Engineering, College of Biomedicine, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
10 Department of Orthopedics, Xinhua Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China
OR 2026, 2(1), 026090010 https://doi.org/10.36922/OR026090010
Received: 25 February 2026 | Revised: 23 March 2026 | Accepted: 25 March 2026 | Published online: 31 March 2026
© 2026 by the Author(s). This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ )
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Abstract

Organoid technology has rapidly matured into a versatile three-dimensional in vitro platform capable of recapitulating key structural and functional features of native tissues. The field is increasingly driven by multidisciplinary integration, with research efforts shifting beyond simple cellular self-organization toward the reconstruction of complex physiological functions. Recent advances in bioengineering have provided organoids with more precisely controlled physical and chemical microenvironments. Approaches such as microfluidic platforms, synthetic biomaterials, and three-dimensional bioprinting enable the in vitro reconstruction of tissue-specific architectures. In addition, progress in vascularization strategies has alleviated longstanding challenges associated with nutrient delivery and metabolic waste removal in larger organoids. The development of assembloid systems further allows the modeling of inter-organ communication and complex physiological axes, expanding the scope of organoid-based studies beyond single-tissue contexts. Together, these technological innovations have substantially enhanced the utility of organoids in disease modeling, drug screening, and regenerative medicine. With continuous improvements in culture systems and the advancement of high-dimensional data analysis, organoids are increasingly serving as a critical bridge between fundamental research and clinical translation. In this review, we summarize the key developments in 2025 and highlight ten representative studies that exemplify recent practical breakthroughs, with the aim of providing useful insights and references for researchers working in this rapidly evolving area.

Keywords
Organoids
Vascularization
Regenerative medicine
Artificial intelligence
Disease modeling
Funding
This work was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant nos.: 82230071, 32471396, 82427809), Shanghai Committee of Science and Technology (grant no.: 23141900600, Laboratory Animal Research Project), and Young Elite Scientist Sponsorship Program by China Association for Science and Technology (grant no.: YESS20230049).
Conflict of interest
Jiacan Su is an Editor-in-Chief of this journal, but was not in any way involved in the editorial and peer-review process conducted for this paper, directly or indirectly. Separately, other authors declared that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have influenced the work reported in this paper.
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