Asthmatic Lung-on-Chip Show Effects of Viral Infection

Study in a Sentence: Emulate Inc. recently collaborated with Merck to model the reaction of asthmatic lungs to viral infections using their lung-on-chip. The creation of sophisticated, AA battery-size chips that recapitulate specific functions of the lung can be used to study different disease processes and responses such as inflammation, immune reactions, and changes to tissue in airways.

Healthy for Humans: This study demonstrates one powerful human-relevant model in which organ-on-chips are being developed. The technology has many applications ranging from testing drugs, agriculture, cosmetics, food, and chemical-based consumer products to enabling individualized applications in personalized and precision medicine.

Redefining Research: These “true-to-life” organ-on-chips recreate the natural physiological and mechanical environments within humans to overcome the human relevance limitations of animal models and may serve to replace them for drug testing and mechanistic investigations of human disease processes. These integrated systems offer automated instrumentation and software and set a new standard for predicting human responses with precision and control beyond what is achievable in cell culture or animal-based approaches.