Researchers from ICMR-NIRWoH (Mumbai) and IIT Bombay have developed an indigenous, lab-grown placenta-on-a-chip platform that replicates key functions of the human placental barrier.
- The placenta-on-chip offers novel advancements in making pregnancies safe.
- It enables stage-specific pregnancy modeling, gestational diabetes study, and drug safety testing, reducing animal model dependency.
- Placenta is a temporary mammalian organ regulating maternal-fetal nutrient-oxygen transfer, waste clearance, and hormone secretion
About Organ on Chip Technology
- Miniature devices containing living human cells that mimic the structure and function of specific tissues/organs.
- It combines tissue engineering and microfabrication to control cell microenvironments and replicate organ-level physiology outside the body.
- Components: Comprises microchannels, porous polymeric membranes, and human cells.
- Types: Single-organ chips, Multi-organ/body-on-chip systems, and Parenchymal/mesenchymal-tissue chips.
- Significance:
- Reduces dependence on animal testing,
- Enables personalized medicine and disease modelling using human cells, and
- Supports drug discovery, toxicity screening, and clinical trial design.
- Challenges: Difficulty replicating the full complexity and changing structure of organs (placenta evolves across gestation stages).
- Scalability, standardisation, and regulatory validation for clinical use remain limited.
