Sign in / up

back to article Harvard bio-boffins build gut-on-a-chip

Engineers at Harvard's Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering have built an experimental synthetic intestine using currently available chip technology. The gut-on-a-chip is about the same size as a USB stick and consists of a central tube that is lined with a single layer of human intestinal epithelial cells to …

COMMENTS

House rules Send corrections
This topic is closed for new posts.
  1. Eddy Ito
    Thumb Up

    Finally, the iShit

    But, but... what about the naturally present flora/fauna? You can't build a gut chip without the usual buggy suspects. I suppose it's good to see what would grow in the absence of normal gut bugs but like everything else, what you get out of it depends on what you put into it.

    0 0
    1. Norman Hartnell
      Reply Icon

      Re: Finally, the iShit

      From the article: "The team have also managed to culture intestinal flora that occur in humans and add them to the chip, to increase its realism as a testing tool."

      2 0
      1. Eddy Ito
        Reply Icon
        Facepalm

        Re: Finally, the iShit

        D'oh, how'd I miss that? Must read more carefully in future.

        [hangs head in shame]

        0 0
  2. Euripides Pants
    Terminator

    ROTM just got chemical weapons

    The Terminator T9000 will be able to let farts that dissolve the stitching on Levi's.

    0 0
  3. Captain DaFt
    Coat

    Hmm... Remember the rat brain on a chip?

    Combine that with this, the heart/lung on a chip, some hard/wetware to tie it together, stick it in the military bot of your choice, et voila!

    The omnivorous Self-aware Highly Intelligent Terminator! (SHIT just got real, yo!)

    2 0
  4. Neoc

    Which institute?

    "Wyse" or "Wyss"? Both are used in the article.

    0 0
This topic is closed for new posts.