The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is backing a new technology that will allow doctors to better understand injuries caused by inhaled chlorine gas.
The technology is referred to as lung-on-a-chip, developed by Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine (WFIRM). The lung-on-a-chip platform is part of WFIRM’s overall Body-on-a-Chip program, a miniaturized system of human organs that can be used to model the body’s response to harmful agents. In this model, human cells are used to create tiny 3D organ-like structures called tissue equivalents that mimic the function of the heart, liver, lung, or blood vessels. Researchers can then monitor the responses of the organ-on-a-chip to a stimulus, such as chlorine gas.
The Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), which is part of the HHS, will provide WFIRM with a $13.5 grant, along with technical expertise, over the next two years to advance the technology. Further, BARDA can support additional work over the next five years, providing funding up to a total of approximately $24 million.
“We are continually looking for disruptive technologies that accelerate the development of medical products to save lives in incidents involving some of the most horrific health security threats our country faces,” BARDA Director Rick Bright said. “Organ-on-a-chip technology has the potential not only to inform our decisions about the most promising investigational products to pursue but also to revolutionize the speed and cost-efficiency of developing those products.”
Currently, observations on the effects of chlorine gas on human lungs are limited to accidents and chemical warfare incidents, both of which are uncommon. WFIRM’s study will determine whether the lung-on-a-chip reacts similarly to the way human lungs respond. The hope is that it will expand the scientific understanding of lung injuries from inhaled chlorine. If the tests are successful, BARDA may use organ-on-a-chip technology to test potential treatments for lung or other organ injuries that are caused by chemical, biological, radiological, or nuclear agents.