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Microphysiological systems have been rapidly advancing in the last few years, bringing about a paradigm change in the areas of diagnostics, disease prevention and treatment. The use of these systems is also rapidly advancing in other sectors, such as cosmetics, food, medtech, etc. However, many of these industries often work in siloes, despite the fact …

Promoting cross-sectoral collaboration in microphysiological systems Read More »

Organoids have shown immense potential in mimicking human organs and development. Self-organisation of the stem cells is one of the critical processes underlying the organoid development. However, the lack of control in this event also gives rise to issues concerning reproducibility of the organoid cultures. This factor limits its broader adoption in academia and industry. …

How geometry drives patterning in organoids Read More »

The recent decade has seen the rise of patient-derived microphysiological systems models that are paving the way for an efficient and personalized therapies for cancer and other diseases. In these specialized systems, it is often not possible to visualize and measure various culture conditions, including oxygen, metabolites etc. However, the cellular microenvironment is often key …

Tracking metabolites in microfluidic chips Read More »

Surat Parvatam Computational tools often help in studying complex parameters that are difficult to measure in experimental models, including fluid flow, stress, pressure, temperature, etc. In addition, they can also assist in optimising the design of a technology. This has led to their increased usage in the preclinical stages of drug discovery. In the last …

The growth of computational simulations to support organ on chip development Read More »

Surat Parvatam Imaging entire intact human organs to understand the spatial relationships and 3D morphology at a cellular scale is one of key goals of biomedical imaging. In recent years, several techniques have been used to image intact organs at various length scales; however, they are not without limitations.  Many techniques that provide single-cell resolution …

Using the brightest X-rays on Earth to image intact human organs Read More »

Surat Parvatam Unraveling the processes behind human organ formation is one of the significant biomedical challenges. While scientists have traditionally used animal models, they often differ in human-specific genetic and biological pathways, particularly during the development of the nervous system. The folding of the embryonic neural tissue into a neural tube is a key initial …

A self-organized and reproducible in vitro model of human brain development Read More »

Radhika Dhekane, Karishma S Kaushik Radhika Dhekane from the Human-Relevant Infection Biology Group at Savitribai Phule Pune University attended the JRC Virtual Summer School from 17th May – 21st May 2021. In this article with Dr. Karishma S Kaushik, she shares excerpts from the meeting, and possible ways it could inform human-relevant science in India. …

Excerpts from the JRC Virtual Summer School on ‘Non-animal approaches in science: The Three R…evolution (17th May – 21st May, 2021) Read More »

In the CPHMS human-relevant webinar series in the month of April, we had Dr Pavithra Chavali who spoke about how organoids are being used to understand neurodegenerative diseases. While various animal models, such as mouse or fruit flies have been used to study brain biology, Dr Chavali highlighted the vast differences in not just size …

Lookback in to CPHMS monthly webinars: Delving into the brain using organoids Read More »

Organs-on-chips are 3D microfluidic devices that are lined with living human cells and aim to capture mechanics and physiological response of particular organ or a system of organs (watch our video in this newsletter on how lungs-on-a-chip are being for developing COVID-19 therapeutics). While these organ chips have gained tremendous traction in the past decade, …

DeepThink: Adoption of MPS models by industry Read More »

With the widespread impact of the SARS-CoV-2, understanding all possible routes of viral entry is essential to contain the transmission and spread of the virus. Currently, aerosol transmission via the nasal route is most widely studied and understood; however, the ocular route (via the eyes) has also been suggested as a vulnerable point of entry. …

Understanding the ocular route of COVID-19 infection via human-relevant models Read More »