Scientists hope to create microchip human organs for testing new drugs, cosmetics

Scientists are working on creating “organs on chips” that mimic living cells and may one day help reduce science’s reliance on animal testing.

The Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University in the United States is laying the groundwork for the microchips that are designed to imitate complicated human functions.

The director of the institute, Dr Donald Ingber, who is visiting Melbourne University for an oration, says the eventual aim is to have “a human body on chips”.

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