The hidden fees of research

For as long as humans have documented life, there has been “research.” Research is the foundation of science and as we continue to learn more, we continue to optimize our research methods. In 2010, the National Institute of Health (NIH) started funding on what could go down in history as one of the greatest scientific advancements of our generation, the tissue chip. In our current model of research there are very strict regulations and guidelines on how research must be conducted. While these regulations are very important considering our horrifying history of human research may end up costing billions of dollars and years of research while patients continue to suffer (Skardal et al. 2017).

            With the discovery of the tissue chip, we may now be able to conduct clinical research on human models without the risk of harming the patients (NIH.gov). Potential drugs are tested on human cells in a 2D model, meaning that they are cells that are plated in vitro. While this is a very important aspect of research it fails to imitate the microenvironment and tissue to tissue interactions (Skardal et al. 2017). The next phase of drug development is the animal model, and while it is suitable for learning the systematic effects, there are many drugs that have different effects on rats compared to humans. If everything passes the FDA’s guidelines, then they will approve the drug for clinical trials (FDA.gov).

             This technology is amazing and has many applications from understanding drug toxicity/ addiction to learning the effects that zero gravity over time has on our organs (NIH.gov). Even with all of these incredible applications, it is important to discuss some of the ethical implications of such technology. One big issue that some people are upset about is in response to the idea that we can “grow a brain.” Currently, the NIH is only concerned with discovering the drug interactions with the blood-brain barrier, but theoretically, we can grow a brain and observe the neuronal interactions. This brain activity would be derived from a donor and we don’t know the implications at this time. Yes, you are right this technology is amazing, but it is our role in the scientific community to ensure that we hold the organizations using this technology are non-maleficent in their actions.

https://www.sciencenews.org/article/human-liver-chip-may-catch-drug-reactions-that-animal-testing-cant

References:

NIH, National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences. (2019). Meet Chip: Brain | National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences. [online] Available at: https://ncats.nih.gov/tissuechip/chip/brain [Accessed 12 Nov. 2019].

Skardal, A., Murphy, S., Devarasetty, M., Mead, I., Kang, H., Seol, Y., Shrike Zhang, Y., Shin, S., Zhao, L., Aleman, J., Hall, A., Shupe, T., Kleensang, A., Dokmeci, M., Jin Lee, S., Jackson, J., Yoo, J., Hartung, T., Khademhosseini, A., Soker, S., Bishop, C. and Atala, A. (2017). Multi-tissue interactions in an integrated three-tissue organ-on-a-chip platform. Scientific Reports, 7(1).

U.S. Food and Drug Administration. (2019). FDA's Drug Review Process: Continued. [online] Available at: https://www.fda.gov/drugs/drug-information-consumers/fdas-drug-review-process-continued [Accessed 12 Nov. 2019].