@NielsjeB and Reykus I also believe it had been kept quiet and would like to know what they are going for i.e is there something they have already notice in their research that needs HUB licensing to develop?
In the seminal movie Blade Runner, director Ridley Scott brought to life a world in which the creation of tissues and organs - and even artificial people - was commonplace.
For its time - it was released in 1982, 18 years before the first draft of the human genome was released and 14 years before the cloning of Dolly the sheep - Blade Runner was remarkably prescient about the future direction of genetic engineering, and the ethical dilemmas posed by the technology.
More than 30 years later the promise of being able to shop for genetically identical, replacement body parts remains the stuff of science fiction, but the first steps down that road are already being taken.
The last few years have seen significant stride forwards in the use of induced pluripotent stem cells (IPSCs) to grow complex tissues and organs in cell culture that - while imperfect - are starting to exhibit the structure and function of their natural counterparts.
Since 2008 researchers around the world have created three-dimensional cellular structures that serve as primitive versions of body parts such as the brain, kidney, liver, pancreas, retina, trachea, and most recently the intestines.
Selected milestones in organoid development
RIKEN Institute team stimulate neural cells to form clusters with organised layers
2008
Hubrecht Institute shows intestinal stem cells can form organoids
2009
University of Pittsburgh researchers devise a 3D system in laboratory culture that mimics the growth patterns of colon cancer stem cells
2010
US doctors implant an artificial trachea grown from a cancer patient's own stem cells
2011
Mario Negri Institute for Pharmacological Research team creates renal organoids that retain some functions when implanted into animals
2012
Institute of Molecular Biotechnology of the Austrian Academy of Science create model brains with some of the complex structures of the organ
2013
A group from Yokohama grow a crude liver from stem cells taken from skin
2013 Stem cells are coaxed into forming mushroom-shaped buds which mimic the structure of the kidney by scientists at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies
2013 A University of Copenhagen team grow tree-like structures using pancreatic cells
2013 Scientists from Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center create the first functional human intestinal tissue from stem cells
2014