Martinez, Leslie
Provenzano, Maureen
Read 290 Sec
February 26, 2014

Body Parts on a Chip

Video Link: http://new.ted.com/talks/geraldine_hamilton_body_parts_on_a_chip
Article Link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-24125678

Do you ever stop to think about if the drugs one takes are tested accurate? Currently developing new drugs is costly, takes too long and fails more often than it succeeds. This means that patients who badly need therapy are not receiving it and diseases are going untreated. The tools that are being used to test if the drugs are going to work are not working properly. The tools used to test drugs are cell infusions and animal testing. The problem with cell infusions is that the cell is being taken away from its habitat and response differently. Animal testing as well fails to predict how the drug will response to the human body. According to BBC the "body on a chip" project replicates human cells to print structures which mimic the functions of the heart, liver, lung and blood vessels. The organs are then placed on a microchip and connected with a blood substitute, allowing scientists to closely monitor specific treatments (BBC). Therefore, an organ on chip will not only provided accurate results but can help save future lives. An organic on chip is of the newest innovations that can help society succeed. According to the video Body on a chip the tools used today to provide drug aren’t accurate. Human cells today are taken away from their natural environment, in which case don’t response naturally to the drug. The organ on a chip will create a home away from home for the cell. This will provide numerous of advancements for our society. Sensors which are measure real-time temperature, oxygen levels, pH and other factors feed back information on how the organs react and - crucially - how they interact with each other (BBC). This according to the video creates new technology for our society and safer for many patients. According to the video this will prevent and highly improve patients with all kinds of diseases. According to BBC the blood substitute keeps the cells alive and can be used to introduce chemical or biologic agents, as well as potential therapies, into the system. Our society can then not only improve but discover new ways to stop diseases from spreading to even stopping them before they happen. An organ on a chip will affect many different groups in our society including children, women, elderly, pharmaceutical and