Organs-on-Chip: the future is now

Donald E. Ingber, M.D., Ph.D., is the Founding Director of the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University. Ingber is a pioneer in the field of biologically inspired engineering, and at the Wyss Institute, he currently leads scientific and engineering teams that cross a broad range of disciplines to develop breakthrough bioinspired technologies to advance healthcare and to improve sustainability. His work has led to major advances in mechanobiology, cell structure, tumour angiogenesis, tissue engineering, systems biology, nanobiotechnology and translational medicine. Through his work, Ingber also has helped to break down boundaries between science, art and design.

Ingber has authored more than 500 publications and 165 patents, founded 5 companies, and has presented 550 plenary presentations and invited lectures world-wide. He has made great strides in translating his innovations into commercial products and many are now either in clinical trials or currently being sold. Examples of technologies Ingber has developed include Human Organ Chips lined by living human cells that are being used to replace animal testing for drug development and personalized medicine. Ingber’s Organ Chip technology was named one of the Top 10 Emerging Technologies by the World Economic Forum and Design of the Year by the London Design Museum. It was also acquired by the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York City for its permanent design collection.

Massimo Mastrangeli is a tenure tracker within the Microelectronics department at TU Delft. He did his Masters in Pisa and went to Leuven for his PhD, followed by postdoc positions in Lausanne, Brussel and Stuttgart before landing in Delft. As Assistant Professor at the ECTM group, Mastrangeli is investigating the design and fabrication of innovative Si/polymer-based microelectromechanical organ-on-chip platforms, and alternative processes for ultra-high throughput assembly of microcomponents.

Mastrangeli: “We try to recreate little parts of the human body within physiologically realistic conditions over micro fabricated substrates. We are mimicking the real deal – so we could one day completely skip animal use in pre-clinical drug testing. It clearly is a highly multidisciplinary line of research with profound potential rewards. And there are obviously still many challenges along the way, both technological and communicational. For example, how to effectively interact with biologists. They have their own jargon, as much as we engineers have ours, and we do not always understand each other easily!”