Review articleOrganoids from adult liver and pancreas: Stem cell biology and biomedical utility

•Adult primary cells from the liver and pancreas can be cultured as 3D organoids.•Organoids provide additional ways to study adult stem cell biology in these tissues.•Organoid technology has many promising biomedical uses, e.g. disease modelling.

The liver and pancreas are critical organs maintaining whole body metabolism. Historically, the expansion of adult-derived cells from these organs in vitro has proven challenging and this in turn has hampered studies of liver and pancreas stem cell biology, as well as being a roadblock to disease modelling and cell replacement therapies for pathologies in these organs. Recently, defined culture conditions have been described which allow the in vitro culture and manipulation of adult-derived liver and pancreatic material. Here we review these systems and assess their physiological relevance, as well as their potential utility in biomedicine.