Human Organs and a Side of Chips

December 03, 2007

In order develop therapies or drugs to help people, medical researchers usually conduct their tests on live cells or in lab mice. These methods are not perfect. Live cells don't often live that long outside a human body and lab mice aren't human. But now scientists are finding ways to assemble cells onto glass or plastic chips that provide the control of a Petri dish but offer physical conditions that more closely resemble those in a living human body.

This week on the Discovery New site, I report on an Artificial Liver designed by a group at the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology to test drugs. Along those lines, there is also an artificial lung in development at the University of Michigan.

The plastic wafer is about the size of a quarter and contains two tiny fluid channels that mimic airway branches in the lungs. The scientists flooded both chambers with a nourishing liquid that promoted the growth of lung cells. Then, they emptied the top chamber to simulate an airway. The lung cells continued to multiply and divide, eventually forming tighter tissue bonds and secreting airway proteins as if they were part of a real lung.

In lab test, the biomedical engineers used the device to show that the respiratory crackles stethoscopes pick up in patients with diseases including asthma, cystic fibrosis, pneumonia and congestive heart failure aren't just symptoms, but may actually cause lung damage.

Comments

[James Francisco]

What about artificial kidneys ? We need one of those bad, at least I do !
Is there any research on the artificial kidney and when will we hear about it ? Thanks