Crying Human Tear Glands Grown in Lab

With the goal of trying to develop new therapies for patients suffering from an inability to produce enough tears as well understanding cancers of the tear gland, researchers have successfully grown human tear glands that can actually cry.

Using organoid technology, researchers from the lab of Hans Clevers and the UMC Utrecht were able to grow miniature tear glands capable of crying. Scientists will be able to use this model to study how specific cells in the human tear gland produce tears or fail to do so. Results of this research were published in Cell Stem Cell.

In addition to hopefully creating new drugs to help patients suffering from dry eye and other tear gland disorders, scientists hope that in the future, this type of organoid might be transplantable in patients with non-functioning tear glands. VisiVite offers our patented Dry Eye Relief formula and Visivite Quench to help people suffering from the symptoms of dry eye syndrome.