Manufacturing Human Organs-on-Chips towards non-animal alternatives in drug discovery and research

在药物发现、化学品测试和基础研究中取消成熟的动物实验之前，开发可信的非动物技术是必要的。在实验室复制人体器官功能的微型设备，即所谓的“芯片上的器官”，已经被用于发现治疗病毒感染和肺部疾病的新药。芯片上的器官具有更广泛的应用前景，它们将通过更好地预测人类对新药的反应，提供动物试验的更好替代方案。该项目将克服在世界各地的研究实验室中更广泛地采用芯片上的器官的重要障碍，方法是使用创新的制造技术来生产使用起来高度直观的低成本设备。更广泛的科学家社区可以获得芯片上的器官，这将加速这一重要领域的研究，导致更少的动物试验，并使参与临床试验更加安全。

Development of credible non-animal technologies is necessary before well-established animal tests can be eliminated from drug discovery, chemicals testing and basic research. Miniature devices that replicate human organ function in the laboratory, so-called "Organs-on-Chips", have already been used in the race to discover new medicines to treat viral infections and lung disease. Organs-on-Chips hold promise for broader applications where they would provide superior alternatives to animal tests by better predicting the human response to new drugs. This project will overcome important barriers to the more widespread adoption of Organs-on-Chips in research laboratories around the world by using innovative manufacturing techniques to produce low cost devices that are highly intuitive to use. The availability of Organs-on-Chips to a broader community of scientists will accelerate research in this important field, leading to less animal testing and making participation in clinical trials much safer.