Hans Clevers

Hans Clevers transformed cancer stem cell research through his discovery of LGR5 as the first definitive adult stem cell marker and his invention of organoid culture technology that enables growth of patient-derived tumor organoids maintaining cancer stem cell hierarchies for drug testing and personalized medicine. His demonstration that single LGR5-positive stem cells can regenerate entire intestinal crypts provided definitive proof of adult stem cell self-renewal and established the clonal origin model for colorectal cancer. His creation of living cancer organoid biobanks has enabled unprecedented large-scale drug screening against cancer stem cells across tumor types.