ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

3D cell culture

So, cells are tiny living things that make up everything in your body, like your skin, your blood, and your bones. Scientists can take these cells and put them in a special environment called a culture to study them and learn more about how they work.

But sometimes, scientists want to study cells in an environment that's even more like the real world. And that's where 3D cell culture comes in! Instead of just putting cells in a flat layer on the bottom of a dish, scientists can use special materials to create tiny, three-dimensional structures that the cells can grow on.

This is like building a tiny house for the cells to live in. They can interact with each other and with the structure around them, just like they would in your body. Researchers can use these 3D cultures to study things like how cancer cells grow and how drugs might affect them.

Basically, 3D cell culture lets scientists create a more realistic environment for cells to grow in, so we can learn even more about how our bodies work!