General Article 3D ‘organ on a chip’ could accelerate search for new disease treatments

Topic Selected: Biotech and Bioethics Book Volume: 352
This article is 5 years old. Click here to view the latest articles for this topic.

Researchers have developed a three-dimensional ‘organ on a chip’ which enables real-time continuous monitoring of cells, and could be used to develop new treatments for disease while reducing the number of animals used in research.

 

By Julia Bradshaw

The device, which incorporates cells inside a 3D transistor made from a soft sponge-like material inspired by native tissue structure, gives scientists the ability to study cells and tissues in new ways. By enabling cells to grow in three dimensions, the device more accurately mimics the way that cells grow in the body.

The researchers, led by the University of Cambridge, say their device could be modified to generate multiple types of organs – a liver on a chip or a heart on a chip, for example – ultimately leading to a body on a chip which would simulate how various treatments affect the body as whole. Their results are reported in the journal Science Advances.

Traditionally, biological studies were (and still are) done in Petri dish...

Would you like to see the rest of this article and all the other benefits that Issues Online can provide with?

Sign up now for an immediate no obligation FREE TRIAL and view the entire collection