A Chip that Models the Human Gut
Human cells that line the intestines, and the bacteria that live in that region have conflicting needs for oxygen. The epithelial cells need oxygen; the bacteria are nearly anaerobic. This makes their interaction hard to study, until now, when researchers at the Wyss Institute designed a microfluidics device that allows for both kinds of cells. “The chip contains two compartments separated by a porous membrane – one for a vascularized human intestinal epithelium culture, and another for a complex microbiome. By culturing the device in a custom anaerobic chamber, the researchers created an oxygen gradient whereby the human cells receive enough to grow and survive, but the bacteria are exposed to low oxygen conditions, which mimics the situation in the human intestine.” MORE
Image Credit: Harvard Wyss Institute