Scientifically speaking, the ideal test subject for medical research is the human being. But, for obvious reasons, we resort to the next best option: experimenting on animals. A relatively new trend in research labs, however, seeks to bridge the divide between the ideal human subject and ethical barriers. Researchers are using human tissue to create devices that mimic the three-dimensional realities of organs. These “organ-on-a-chip” technologies could not only do away with animal models that have proven disappointingly unreliable, but their ease of use and affordability could speed up the drug discovery process.
The newest of these, gut-on-a-chip, attempts to mimic the physiology, structure, and mechanics of the human intestines. It is roughly the size of a thumb drive and contains a central chamber that houses a pliant, porous membrane lined with human intestinal epithelial cells, producing an artificial intestinal barrier. It can even harbor the microbes normally abundant in our gut’s luminal space. Not only does the 3D chip mimic organ anatomy, the membrane is controlled with a vacuum pump to produce the peristaltic motions that occur during digestion.
via Singularity Hub
