Organs-on-Chips: The Future of Drug Development Sanyami Jain Those of you who love technology may be familiar with computer chips and microchips. An array of electronic circuits on a compact, flat piece of silicon is known as a chip. However, do you know that we can create human organs on a chip? This article …
Organoids in Diabetes Research Pratiksha Roham Organoids are 3D in vitro cell culture systems that are generated by differentiating embryonic stem cells (ESCs), induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) or adult tissue stem cells (ASCs)1. During differentiation, in addition to culture media and growth factors, stem cells require a scaffold/matrix that contains the basement membrane elements, …
Microscopy tools for imaging microphysiological systems Surat Parvatam A key element to enable an increase in the usage of organ-on-chip (OOC) devices in biomedical research and drug discovery is the ability to monitor and measure quantitative information from these systems at cellular level. Non-invasive imaging methods also help in long-term and live imaging of …
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Identifying genetic risk for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) using organoids The risk for autism spectrum disorder has been associated with hundreds of genes. However, the extent of changes in the human brain as a result of mutations in these genes and the contribution of specific genes remains unclear. Additionally, the manifestation of these changes …
Identifying genetic risk for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) using organoids Read More »
Mimicking the micro-environment in organoids In order to better understand the pathophysiology of cancer biology, there is a growing need for experimental in vitro models that can recapitulate not only the characteristics of tumors, but also the surrounding microenvironment of the tumor. The role of the extracellular matrix (ECM) is particularly important in the …
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. …
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 …
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 »
