USC researchers reported synthetic organizers that improve reproducibility in human kidney organoid formation by engineering Wnt-secreting cells based on developmental mapping. In a Science paper, the team described a previously unrecognized developmental axis guiding nephron patterning, enabling more consistent organoid architecture than broad chemical-driven methods. The advance targets a central organoid limitation—culture-to-culture variability—while supporting longer-term work toward disease modeling and potentially transplantable kidney tissue.