Bringing a new drug to market takes roughly a decade and requires expensive and arduous testing on humans and animals. But a new technology developed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology aims to cut that time by half and perhaps replace animal testing entirely. The device, roughly the size of a paperback, is nicknamed “the body on a chip” and is designed to show scientists how a drug affects individual organs and the body as whole. The device’s surface contains shallow receptacles in which scientists deposit pregrown, 3-D tissue structures from up to 12 human organs. With prior help from microscopic scaffoldings,...
The Massachusetts Institute of Medicine ( MIT ) has developed a " physiome on a chip " device that could reduce the time required to bring a new vaccine to market and eliminate animal diseases entirely . The device , developed with a five - year , multimillion - dollar grant from the US Defense Advanced Research Projects fund , contains pre - grown , 3D tissue structures from up to 12 human organs , with pumps simulating blood flow . Drugs are then added to the device , enabling scientists to evaluate their effect on various parts of the body . The technology could be used to rapidly develop and release vaccines for pandemics .