Arguably the biggest challenges within the field of drug development is testing. There are really only two choices available -- animal testing which is both expensive and raises ethical concerns, and human testing. 'Human testing' usually means performing tests on microscopic human cells found in tissue cultures which have been altered to live forever. Because of these alterations these cells bear little relation to actual living and breathing people so this option isn't ideal either.
Recently a new technique has been making waves in the scientific community: microchips that simulate the activities and mechanics of entire organs and organ systems. These “organs on a chip,” as they are called, are typically glass slides coated with human cells that have been configured to mimic a particular tissue or interface between tissues. Developers hope they could bring drugs to market more quickly and, in some circumstances, perhaps even eliminate the need for animal testing.
The ultimate goal with this new technology is to make chips that mimic more complex systems—perhaps even entire humans, says Donald Ingber, director of Harvard’s Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering and co-creator of the organs-on-a-chip. Scientists could build chips containing cells from patients with specific genetic mutations, which could predict drug responses in specific populations, as well as personalized chips that predict an individual’s drug response. “Essentially this would be analogous to human clinical trial design, but all on inexpensive chips,” Ingber says. “This is the whole point of bio-inspired engineering. You don’t have to re-create everything—you just have to get the salient features in.”
Bambi Blue is a freelance writer, editor, and social butterfly living in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. When she's not blogging her little heart out for HealthCareJobsite.com, she moonlights as a jazz musician and most apparently a weisenheimer. Loves to cook, hates to clean, and can easily be found on Twitter. To read more of Bambi's posts, head to HealthCareJobsite.com and see additional job postings at Beyond.com.
Recently a new technique has been making waves in the scientific community: microchips that simulate the activities and mechanics of entire organs and organ systems. These “organs on a chip,” as they are called, are typically glass slides coated with human cells that have been configured to mimic a particular tissue or interface between tissues. Developers hope they could bring drugs to market more quickly and, in some circumstances, perhaps even eliminate the need for animal testing.
The ultimate goal with this new technology is to make chips that mimic more complex systems—perhaps even entire humans, says Donald Ingber, director of Harvard’s Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering and co-creator of the organs-on-a-chip. Scientists could build chips containing cells from patients with specific genetic mutations, which could predict drug responses in specific populations, as well as personalized chips that predict an individual’s drug response. “Essentially this would be analogous to human clinical trial design, but all on inexpensive chips,” Ingber says. “This is the whole point of bio-inspired engineering. You don’t have to re-create everything—you just have to get the salient features in.”
Bambi Blue is a freelance writer, editor, and social butterfly living in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. When she's not blogging her little heart out for HealthCareJobsite.com, she moonlights as a jazz musician and most apparently a weisenheimer. Loves to cook, hates to clean, and can easily be found on Twitter. To read more of Bambi's posts, head to HealthCareJobsite.com and see additional job postings at Beyond.com.
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