Dr. Goodman: Yes, it’s what we’re calling Human on a Chip. This is an ambitious project to create a tool that could revolutionize toxicology testing and it’s something I’m really excited to talk about. Scientists have relied largely on animal studies to determine if a drug is toxic before testing it in humans. And while animal testing is useful, it’s also expensive, time consuming, and has drawbacks. For example, it doesn’t always detect toxic effects specific to humans and doesn’t usually provide information about the role that genetic differences within human populations play in toxicity. It can also generate false alarms, showing an effect in animals that doesn’t predict an actual effect in people, which leads us to abandon promising new drugs. FDA is collaborating with DARPA, NIH, and the scientific community to spur innovation in this field by exploring how tools like Human on a Chip can be integrated into our development tool box to improve testing for toxicity and potentially reduce the need for animal testing.FDA Voice: Can you describe Human on a Chip?
Dr. Goodman: Researchers are developing microsystems using human cells to test the effects of drugs or other substances. For example, scientists have developed a micro machine chip with human lung cells that grow on a surface to form a lung-like tissue that has both air spaces and blood circulation. FDA is supporting the coupling of this chip to a heart-like chip that beats and pumps blood. We can use this type of system to evaluate, with human cells, how specialized organs like the lung and heart react to a specific chemical.
more of the interview here... http://blogs.fda.gov/fdavoice/index.php/2012/04/fda-voice-interviews-jesse-goodman-m-d-m-p-h-on-the-darpa-and-nih-project-collaboration-human-on-a-chip/
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