Humans on a chip

Abstract

Physiology Organ chips are devices in which epithelial and/or stromal cells are grown in a chamber filled with medium connected by a porous matrix-like membrane to another chamber lined with endothelial cells and containing a blood substitute. Depending on the cell types used and the contents of the blood substitute and medium, these chips can model organ-specific environments. Novak et al. devised an automated system to connect up to 10 different organ chips with a common blood substitute to model physiological systems. In a series of reports, they show that this system could be used to predict drug dynamics and drug toxicity. These devices have numerous potential applications, including modeling complex environments and disease development. Nat. Biomed. Eng. 10.1038/s41551-019-0497-x, s41551-019-0498-9, s41551-019-0495-z (2020).