Placenta-on-a-chip could revolutionize research into pregnancy-related conditions
A placenta-on-a-chip that mimics the workings of the placenta has been developed, allowing further research into the organ without posing harm to the mother or fetus.
Despite efforts to gain a comprehensive understanding of the role of the placenta during pregnancy, the workings of the organ remain a puzzle yet to be fully deciphered. In a significant breakthrough for placental research, a team of scientists from the School of Medicine at the University of Dundee (UK) has developed a placenta-on-a-chip system, called iPlacenta, that mimics the placenta, allowing the organ to be studied. The findings were a culmination of a 4-year study and collaborative effort with MIMETAS (Oegstgeest, Netherlands), an organ-on-a-chip developer.
