Artificial organism can replace animal experiments

Artificial multi-organ chip replaces animal experiments

07/02/2015

According to experts, the majority of animal experiments are already largely unnecessary today. Nevertheless, countless animals around the world still have to die for the testing of drugs or cosmetics. A newly developed multi-organ chip could make the heavily criticized experiments superfluous in the future.

Newly developed multi-organ chip
For decades, animal experiments have also been used in medical research, for example for the testing of cosmetics. Millions of times in the name of science animals are tortured and killed. A newly developed multi-organ chip could help reduce future animal testing. As a press release from the Fraunhofer Institute for Material and Beam Technology (IWS) puts it, researchers now have it „developed a novel solution that could make animal testing in medical research or in the cosmetics industry superfluous“.

Alternatives to animal experiments
Scientists worldwide are working on alternatives to animal experiments. Especially for medicines, this is often difficult. „Most drugs work systemically, so on the entire organism. Metabolic processes often cause toxic substances, which in turn only damage certain organs“, explains Dr. Frank Sonntag from the IWS. Together with the Institute of Biotechnology of the TU Berlin, the researchers of the Dresden Institute have developed a multi-organ chip that simulates the complex metabolic processes in the human body with astonishing accuracy. „Our system is a miniature organism on a scale of 1: 100 000 to humans“, explains Sunday.

Test drugs of new drugs
According to the information can be applied to the chip in several positions human cells from different organs. These „Mini institutions“ are connected by tiny channels. „That's how we simulate the human bloodstream“, Sun Sunday. A micropump, like the human heart, constantly transports liquid cell culture medium through fine microchannels. IWS researchers can tailor the exact structure of the chip to different questions and applications. It can be used to test the active ingredients of new drugs as well as to examine cosmetics for their skin tolerance.

Metabolic reactions as in the human body
The pump can deliver minuscule flow rates of less than 0.5 microliters per second through the channels. „As a result, the relationship between the cell sample and the liquid medium is realistic“, Sun Sunday. If this ratio is incorrect, this will lead to inaccurate results. Furthermore, the new system provides a flow - as the human blood flows the medium continuously through the entire circuit on the chip. This is important because some cell types only work „authentic“ behave when stimulated by a current. The researchers first populate the chip with different cell samples to test the effect of a substance. Thereafter, the drug to be tested is supplied via the medium to the cell sample of the organ at which the substance would enter the bloodstream in the human body, for example cells from the intestinal wall. Then the same metabolic reactions take place on the chip as in the human body.

More meaningful than animal experiments
„We use cell samples from different genders and ethnic groups. Variations in body height and weight can be adjusted at a scale of 1: 100,000“, explains Sunday. The scientists are able to see exactly which metabolic products form in certain cell samples and whether and what effects this has on other cells. Ultimately, the results are even more meaningful than animal experiments, because the effects on the body of a mouse or rat can not be transferred one-to-one to humans. It is said that the artificial organism is already in use in some companies, such as the cosmetics industry.

Scientists awarded with animal welfare research award
The scientists were awarded the 2014 Animal Welfare Research Award for their newly developed chip technology. The Technical University (TU) Berlin, which was involved in the development of the new technology, is in the research association with various other institutions, such as the Free University (FU) Berlin, the Charité University Medicine, the University of Potsdam and the Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) „BBR3“ Its goal is to develop alternative methods to animal experiments. (Ad)

Image: Stephanie Hofschlaeger