Chip that simulates lungs may discover new cures for disease

Scientists at the Wyss Institute at Harvard have devised a way to simulate a real-world pulmonary edema situation using a new technology they have created called “Lung-on-a-chip”. It is a small memory card-sized structure that contains substance-carrying capillaries and space to capture atmospheric air (as if it were an act of breathing).

The lung-simulating chip allows scientists to conduct experiments on viruses and bacteria that evidently could not be performed on humans, both for ethical and financial reasons. In the video above, the advent professionals demonstrate how it works in a situation that simulates the entry of a harmful bacterium.

Lung-on-a-chip has a portion the size of a capillary blood vessel (those that irrigate the lungs) into which white human defense cells (leukocytes) were conducted. At the other end, through which the air passes, the scientists induced the entry of some bacteria, which eventually contaminated the artificial lung region.

Thus, the defending cells quickly pass through the walls and attack the invading bodies of the organism. This allows scientists to develop drugs that act in defense or prophylaxis of pulmonary edema and other diseases.

Diseases and Cures

It is worth remembering that pulmonary edema is an abnormal condition in the normal functioning of the human breathing organs, in which the lungs suffer an abnormal accumulation of fluid. The latest breakthrough in fighting this disease is a drug developed by GlaxoSmithKline, which relieves the patient's symptoms. This medicine was developed from animal testing, validating the results and ensuring that it could be used on humans.

With experiments like Lung-on-a-chip, scientists will eventually be able to develop other simulated organs. This will make drug testing no longer necessary on animals, and exponentially increase substance specificity so that a drug does not affect multiple organs - as it does today.

It's worth a look at the video and see better how the small chip works.