Written by Amanda Froelich at trueactivist.com; Image credit: Wyss Institute
The Design Museum in London has chosen its Best Design of the Year: a chip that replaces animal test subjects with a complex package of human cells. This radical invention has the potential to eliminate animal experimentation, and in effect save millions of species’ lives worldwide.
The lung-on-a-chip, called so because that’s what it actually is, was designed at Harvard’s Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering. It may look simple, but the chip contains complex human cells arranged similarly to the way a lung works. In fact, it even breathes like a human does!
Scientists at the Wyss explained the far-reaching potential of these chips. For example, they can use the lung-on-a-chip to introduce bacteria to the channels to mimic and infection, or introduce the chemicals one breathes in regularly to mimic air pollution and test its effect on the lungs. Or, they can even test new medications and determine the effects they’ll have on human physiology.
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