Dubai, UAE – During its participation in the World Health Exhibition 2026 in Dubai, «Dubai Health» revealed the launch of the «Dubai Laboratory for New Stem Cells» project.
This represents a qualitative shift in the path of accelerating the development of treatment for rare and hereditary diseases, and reducing manufacturing time and cost.
By converting patients’ cells into stem cells, and then into miniature organs used to test treatments rather than trying them directly on the patient or relying on animal models.
Dean of the Hamdan bin Mohammed College of Dentistry at Mohammed bin Rashid University of Medicine and Health Sciences, Dr. Mohammed Jamal, said that the project aims to establish a specialized laboratory to convert blood cells taken from patients into stem cells.
This is to support the study and treatment of rare and hereditary diseases.
It also allows the use of genetically identical cells for each patient, which helps to understand the mechanisms of some diseases more accurately, and to test modern gene-based treatments on these cells, instead of trying them directly on patients.
He added that the laboratory will allow stem cells to be converted into miniature organs (Organoids), which mimic the functions of human organs in miniature, such as the brain, lung, kidneys, liver, and eye.
They can be used as laboratory models to test treatments, rather than testing them directly on the patient’s organs, or relying on animal experiments that do not always reflect the true human response.
He explained that the use of miniature organs contributes to reducing the time period required to develop treatments and reducing their costs.
Studies indicate that drug development typically takes seven to 10 years and costs billions of dollars.
While the success rate of treatment reaching the patient does not exceed 10%.
He pointed out that the project also helps reduce the time and cost of clinical tests by up to 50%, and accelerate the clinical trials phase.
