Harvard Researchers Create 'Body-On-Chips' That May Allow Safer Drug Testing

BOSTON (CBS) -- Imagine testing new drugs on the human body, but not on people. That's exactly what local scientists say they have accomplished.

Drug development is a long and costly process and only about 14 percent of drug tests earn approval by the Food and Drug Administration.

Researchers at Harvard's Wyss Institute spent the past decade developing "organs-on-chip" which are small plastic cartridges housing organ-specific cells. The chips allow scientists to see how drugs affect individual organs like the human heart and kidney.

Now they have been able to connect multiple organs-on-chips like the kidney, heart, intestines, and brain through fluid channels similar to blood vessels to create a "body-on-chips," allowing scientists to test how a particular drug would affect the human body as a whole.

The hope is that this technology will speed up drug development and approval and reduce the need for animal testing over time.