Video of mini hearts and livers for "Body on a Chip" project update

As part of a "Body on a Chip" project funded by the Defense Threat Reduction Agency, scientists at Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine, a part of Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, in collaboration with partners from around the country, are developing miniature hearts, livers, blood vessels and lungs that will be used to predict the effects of chemical and biologic agents and used to test the effectiveness of potential treatments.

The organoids will be connected to a system of micro-fluid channels and sensors to provide online monitoring of individual organoids and the overall organoid system. This approach has the potential to reduce the need for testing in animals, which is expensive, slow and provides results that aren't always applicable to people.