Human-Based Intestinal Organ Chip Research Opens the Door for Disease Modelling and Personalized Medicine

Study in a Sentence: Organ chip models of the human intestine interfaced with other tissues have promising potential for personalized medicine and drug development.

Healthy for Humans: Organ chips are microdevices that contain living cells and tissues and are able to recreate the functions of living organs. These devices use human intestinal cells to model development, physiology, and disease states of both the small and large intestines of diverse human populations. Intestinal organ chips can help researchers identify novel drug candidates for intestinal diseases and test them for therapeutic efficacy and safety.

Redefining Research: Human intestine organ chips more faithfully model the structure of the human intestine than animals and provide researchers the ability to control important parameters, such as cell type composition, the cellular environment, and mechanical cues. This technology is being used in many applications, including to model intestinal infections, colorectal cancer, and Crohn’s disease and to test for safe and effective therapies for these and other intestinal conditions.