3D Organ On A Chip: The Future Of Drug Research?

Primarily developed to increase the accuracy of drug research in the lab, could a 3D Organ On A Chip also point to the future of cruelty-free drug testing by reducing the use of lab animals?

By: Ringo Bones

The newfangled device, which incorporates cells inside a 3D transistor made from a soft sponge-like material inspired by how cells in nature are structured, now allows 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 a whole. Their results are reported in the journal Science Advances.

Traditionally, biological studies were – and still are – done in petri dishes, where specific types of cells are grown on a flat surface. While many of the medical advances made since the 1950s, including the polio vaccine, have originated in petri dishes, these two-dimensional environments do not accurately represent the native three-dimensional environments of human cells and can, in fact, leas to misleading information and failures of drugs in clinical trials. “Two-dimensional cell models have served the scientific community well, but we now need to move to three-dimensional cell models in order to develop the next generation of therapies,” says Dr. Roisin Owens from Cambridge’s Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology and the study’s senior author.

Cambridge University’s 3D Organ On A Chip could also spell good news on the reduction of the use of lab animals which could eventually lead to cruelty-free drug testing. Remember how Canadian scientists Fredrick G. Banting and his team discovered insulin back in 1921? They extensively used dogs in their lab to find out how insulin works and how it could be used to treat Type-1 diabetes in humans and unfortunately, it resulted in the deaths of many dogs.