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| RFID Chip & Rice Grain (Public Domain) |
Although lab technicians have poked and prodded at captive animals for years, many would welcome a kinder and gentler research alternative.
Arjun Kharpal of CNBC
reports that this alternative might now exist.
Harvard University’s Wyss Institute designed a Human Organs-On-Chip Project which mimics conditions within the human body.
The first such device, called lung-on-a-chip, includes “human lung and blood vessel cells,” as well as “white blood cells” and “bacteria cells.” These are contained within “a small block of plastic with microchannels running through it” (a design similar to that of a smartphone chip).
When infectious bacteria of various kinds are added to this “chip,” researchers can then study how the human cells react. This methodology can help to offset the need for deliberately infecting lab animals with pathogens.
A Harvard press release stated: “They [the ‘chips’] stand to significantly reduce the need for animal testing by providing a faster, less expensive, less controversial and accurate means to predict whether new drug compounds will be successful in human clinical trials.”
Resources
http://www.cnbc.com/id/102783665?__source=yahoo|finance|headline|headline|story&par=yahoo&doc=102783665
Copyright July 10, 2015 by Linda Van Slyke All Rights Reserved
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