Heart-on-a-Chip Technology To Combat Heart Disease

Study in a Sentence: Biotechnology companies Insilico Medicine and TARA Biosystems are working together using artificial intelligence and heart-on-a-chip technology to speed up drug discovery and lower drug cost in the fight against heart disease. 

Healthy for Humans: Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States, as well as many other high-income countries. Pairing artificial intelligence and heart-on-a-chip technology allows researchers to predict the therapeutic use of hundreds of new drugs and test them on actual human heart cells before they enter clinical trials. 

Redefining Research: This research approach is a promising alternative to the use of animals in drug development, which is extremely costly, time consuming, and exposes humans to potentially dangerous chemicals. This method tests new drugs on human heart cells, permitting researchers to monitor them for interactions, side effects, and effects on cardiac function, before they ever go into human clinical trials, ultimately improving the health of millions and saving lives.