Our Preclinical counterpart: What are the effects of Pharmaceutical drugs on human organs on-chips?
Author: Do, Naomi, La, Vivian, & Levitis, Daniella, Various High Schools
*naomiquynhnhudo@gmail.com, vivianla382@gmail.com, daniella.levitis@pinecrest.edu
Advisor: Shania Shahab, researchhprogram@gmail.com
Abstract
Organs-on-chips is a 3D printed microdevice that can have the same function as any human organ. Organ chips are revolutionary for the field of pharmacology. These chips allow for qualitative predictions regarding the pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic response of drugs. Organs-on-chips have the potential to replace animal testing, as pharmaceutical trials on these chips produce more accurate responses, since humans and animals generally differ greatly biologically and physiologically. While Animal testing for preclinical trials often succeeds, it also often fails in one of the three human clinical trials. With organ chips, billions could be saved from being used on ineffective trials. Trials can speed up by skipping phases I and II of clinical trials. Anyone’s cells may be used, whether they are healthy or diseased. [Figure 1] This paves a way for personalized medicine which is helpful for diseases such as cancer. In the case of harmful effects, the chip itself will be affected rather than the humans or animals. One example is that the H1N1 and H3N2 influenza strains were tested on an airway chip and the transparent polymer casing allowed the observation of real-time damage of the chip’s epithelial cells.