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Uterus on a Chip
11/04/2025
Uterus on a Chip
Summary: According to an article by Sy Boles of the Harvard Gazette, Heavy Menstrual Bleeding (HMB) affects many women, but research progress has been slow due to the lack of suitable animal models. Scientists Donald Ingber, founding director of the Wyss Institute, and Judah Folkman, professor of Vascular Biology at Harvard Medical School and the Vascular Biology Program at Boston Children's Hospital, are developing an innovative "organ-on-a-chip" technology. This breakthrough has enabled the creation of a human model replicating the uterine wall. By providing a more accurate research platform, their work aims to dramatically accelerate the path from symptom onset to effective treatment. While the current average time from initial symptoms to proper diagnosis and care is around five years, the scientists' organ chip model of the human uterus could potentially reduce that period to a mere five months. If successful, this technology promises to transform the medical landscape and provide faster relief for the millions of women suffering from Heavy Menstrual Bleeding. Article Citation: Boles, S. (2025, October 7). HMB is more common than asthma or diabetes, yet often ignored. Harvard Gazette. https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2025/10/a-condition-more-common-than-asthma-or-diabetes-yet-often-ignored/#:~:text=HMB%20is%20more%20common%20than,yet%20often%20ignored%20%E2%80%94%20Harvard%20Gazette Artificial organs that utilize chip-based technology are not currently available as implantable, fully functional organ replacements in clinical practice. Instead, the field is dominated by "organ-on-a-chip" (OOC) or "organs-on-chips" microfluidic devices, which are advanced in vitro models that recapitulate key aspects of human organ physiology and pathophysiology using living human cells within engineered microenvironments on a chip platform. These systems are primarily used for research applications, including disease modeling, drug development, toxicity testing, and personalized medicine. OOC devices have been developed for a variety of organs—such as lung, liver, heart, kidney, and brain—and can be integrated into multi-organ platforms ("body-on-a-chip") to study inter-organ interactions and systemic drug effects. Integration of biosensors for real-time monitoring and the use of human induced pluripotent stem cells are advancing the field toward more physiologically relevant and personalized models. Despite rapid technological progress, significant challenges remain before chip-based artificial organs can be used as implantable therapeutic devices. These include issues of vascularization, immune compatibility, long-term viability, and regulatory approval for clinical use. Current regulatory discussions, including those involving the FDA, focus on the use of OOC systems as preclinical testing platforms rather than as direct organ replacements. In summary, chip-based artificial organs are currently limited to sophisticated in vitro models for research and drug development, not as implantable devices for organ replacement in patients. j References . Tian T, Liu J, Zhu H. Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology. 2023;1199:155-183. doi:10.1007/978-981-32-9902-3_8. . Monteduro AG, Rizzato S, Caragnano G, et al. Biosensors & Bioelectronics. 2023;231:115271. doi:10.1016/j.bios.2023.115271. . Ingber DE. Nature Reviews. Genetics. 2022;23(8):467-491. doi:10.1038/s41576-022-00466-9. . Low LA, Mummery C, Berridge BR, Austin CP, Tagle DA. Nature Reviews. Drug Discovery. 2021;20(5):345-361. doi:10.1038/s41573-020-0079-3. . Obeid PJ, Yammine P, El-Nakat H, et al. Chembiochem : A European Journal of Chemical Biology. 2024;25(23):e202400580. doi:10.1002/cbic.202400580. . Sabaté Del Río J, Ro J, Yoon H, Park TE, Cho YK. Biosensors & Bioelectronics. 2023;224:115057. doi:10.1016/j.bios.2022.115057. . Zhao Y, Wang EY, Lai FBL, Cheung K, Radisic M. Trends in Biotechnology. 2023;41(3):410-424. doi:10.1016/j.tibtech.2022.12.018.
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