A body-on-a-chip strings together 10 model human organs
The new device could help researchers see how different types of tissue respond to drugs without using lab animals.
Back story: Current organ-on-a chip systems place different kinds of human cells into a device andthen push fluid through them to mimic blood flow. That lets researchers see how, say, lung cells respond to different conditions.
What’s new: MIT engineers have now built a more complex version, which combines cells from 10 different organs—liver, lung, gut, endometrium, brain, heart, pancreas, kidney, skin, and skeletal muscle. That allows tests to see how different model organs react and interact with each other when exposed to different chemicals in the fluid.
Why it matters: The cells can live for up to four weeks of testing, and the team has already used the setup to see how the different model organs respond to painkillers. It’s still a crude approximation of our body, but it could be used to test how organs react to early-stage drugs.
Deep Dive
Biotechnology
This nanoparticle could be the key to a universal covid vaccine
Ending the covid pandemic might well require a vaccine that protects against any new strains. Researchers may have found a strategy that will work.
How do strong muscles keep your brain healthy?
There’s a robust molecular language being spoken between your muscles and your brain.
The quest to show that biological sex matters in the immune system
A handful of immunologists are pushing the field to take attributes such as sex chromosomes, sex hormones, and reproductive tissues into account.
This company is about to grow new organs in a person for the first time
A volunteer with severe liver disease will soon undergo a procedure that could lead them to grow a second liver.
Stay connected
Get the latest updates from
MIT Technology Review
Discover special offers, top stories, upcoming events, and more.