Abstract

Monitoring Biological Processes In Situ: Lab-in-the-Tissue

Gabor Forgacs, Professor, University of Missouri-Columbia; Founder, Modern Meadow

Engineering of 3D tissues and organs has seen spectacular progress in recent years. The technologies of 3D-printing and organ-­on-the chip have provided invaluable tools and structures for basic research, drug toxicity assays or disease models. In the case of drug toxicity studies the engineered construct is typically subjected to either known drugs or to new candidate drugs and metabolic functions are measured by detection of metabolites in the culture medium in which the engineered construct resides. This type of monitoring however, reveals only limited information about how the internal structure (e.g. cell-­cell interactions) of the engineered construct is effected and thus about the suitability of the tissue for further applications, such as its use in disease studies or ultimately for implantation. Here we propose to combine 3D printing and BioMEMS and related technologies to build Lab-in-the-­tissue devices for the in situ monitoring of metabolic and functional properties of engineered tissues and organ structures.