Human-based multi-organoid 'body-on-a-chip' could reduce the failure rate of new drugs

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Human-based multi-organoid 'body-on-a-chip' could reduce the failure rate of new drugs

13 March 2020
News
While animal models provide a full, in-tact model to test drugs on, organoids could only offer an approximation of human biology. Without key features like a nervous or immune system or vascular structure, organoids were seen as a complement to other forms of testing, like on animals—until now.

Scientists at the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine have created the world's most sophisticated lab model of the human body, developing a full system of miniaturized organs known as "organoids."

This advanced system of organoids has successfully been used to determine whether or not a given pharmaceutical is toxic in the human body, which could eliminate the need for animal testing altogether.

The results were published last month in the scientific journal Biofabrication.