Placenta-on-chip’ platform
Why in News?
Researchers from the ICMR-National Institute for Research on Women's Health (formerly ICMR-NIRRCH), Mumbai, in collaboration with IIT Bombay, have developed an indigenous lab-grown ‘placenta-on-chip’ platform that recreates key functions of the human placental barrier.
What is a Placenta-on-Chip?
- Not Electronics: Despite its name, it is a transparent, thumb-sized plastic device containing living human cells—not a computer chip.
- Two-Chamber Design: It consists of human placental cells and blood vessel cells grown on opposite sides of a microscopic, porous membrane to simulate the maternal-fetal interface.
Key Functions Replicated
- Hormone Secretion: The chip successfully synthesizes and produces vital pregnancy hormones.
- Nutrient & Waste Exchange: It effectively models how essential glucose transfers to the fetal side and how metabolic waste (like urea) is filtered out.
- Selective Barrier Activity: It acts as a gatekeeper, demonstrating how the placenta blocks or permits the passage of specific external molecules.
Major Applications & Impact
- Pregnancy Safe Drugs: Pharmaceutical companies can use it to confidently evaluate whether drugs, pollutants, or microbes can breach the placenta to reach an unborn baby.
- Decoding Complications: It allows direct research into dangerous conditions like preeclampsia (pregnancy-induced high blood pressure), gestational diabetes, and fetal growth restriction.
- Disease Modelling: The chip already altered its transport mechanics when exposed to high-sugar environments, perfectly mimicking real-world gestational diabetes.
Why the Indian Design Stands Out
- Simplified Engineering: While global organ-on-chip variations require expensive, specialized microfluidic equipment, the Mumbai team built a static model compatible with standard workflows.
- Biomedical Self-Reliance: Supported by the Science, Engineering, and Research Board (SERB), the patent-pending platform aligns with India's BioE3 Policy to boost local biotechnology.
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