Developmentally inspired human ‘organs on chips’

Abstract

Although initially developed to replace animal testing in drug development, human ‘organ on a chip’ (organ chip) microfluidic culture technology offers a new tool for studying tissue development and pathophysiology, which has brought us one step closer to carrying out human experimentation in vitro. In this Spotlight article, I discuss the central role that developmental biology played in the early stages of organ-chip technology, and how these models have led to new insights into human physiology and disease mechanisms. Advantages and disadvantages of the organ-chip approach relative to organoids and other human cell cultures are also discussed.

Document Details

Document Type
Pub Defense Publication
Publication Date
May 18, 2018
Source ID
10.1242/dev.156125

Entities

People

  • Donald E. Ingber

Organizations

  • AstraZeneca
  • Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency
  • Gates Foundation
  • Harvard Medical School
  • Harvard University
  • National Institutes of Health
  • Taiwan Food and Drug Administration

Tags

Fields of Study

  • Biology

Readers

  • Integrated Circuit Design and Technology.
  • Molecular and Cellular Biology
  • Systems Analysis and Design