Developing Retinal Organoids: Best Practices for Generation, Maintenance, and Validation

Human induced pluripotent stem cell (hiPSC)-derived retinal organoids have emerged as powerful models for studying retinal development, disease mechanisms, and therapeutic interventions. However, generating reproducible organoids and maintaining them through long-term maturation remains a significant challenge.

Watch our webinar as Alessandro Bellapianta, PhD Candidate at Johannes Kepler University shared his best practices for developing hiPSC-derived retinal organoids. Alessandro covered the entire retinal organoid workflow, from stem cell differentiation to functional maturity, and highlighted strategies for improving reproducibility and culture success.

Alessandro covered:

• A comparison of common protocols for generating hiPSC-derived retinal organoids

• Key developmental milestones and growth factors for successful neuroretinal induction and differentiation

• Tips and tricks for long-term retinal organoid maintenance and maturation, resulting in viable and structurally organized tissues over several months

• Approaches for structural, molecular, and functional validation using tools ranging from transcriptomic profiling to bio-electronic interfaces

• Common challenges and troubleshooting strategies to improve reproducibility and disease modeling