Placenta on a chip: A humanized platform for testing of pharmaceuticals and environmental chemicals

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The human placenta is a complex organ that controls the health of the baby and also impactsthe health of the mother. Signals from the cells that form the barrier between mother and fetuscan program the babies health after it is born or control whether the baby is bornprematurely. 1 in 9 babies are born prematurely and this can lead to many health problems inlater life. It is difficult to study this barrier in animal models or humans because of thecomplexity of the placenta. Our research will develop a placenta on a chip; a micro-devicethat mimics a small section of the human placenta in 3D. We will develop special surfacesthat allow the stem cells of the placenta to behave as though they were in their naturalenvironment within the womb. This portable placenta will be the first example of such adevice that brings together the important cells of the placenta and simulates the properoxygen levels and blood flow that would exist in the human placenta. This device will be veryuseful in reducing the cost of testing drugs to see if they would be harmful to the mother orfetus and also help to reduce the number of animals that are used in drug testing. Importantly,we will also verify whether this device predicts the biological responses of actual placentaltissues when treated with environmental toxins; something that no one has evaluated. We willeasily and inexpensively be able to identify whether certain chemicals are causing thematernal-fetal barrier to release signals that might harm the baby or cause premature birth.We have already partnered with Evik Diagnostics, a Canadian company that is interested indiagnostic testing for conditions that affect the health of the mother and baby in pregnancy.