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developed to test for herbicides and To preserve as much of the in vivo func- type of liver cell—from rats, but the pesticides. tion as possible, the researchers, led by goal is to use human cells and to add Chips with up to 120,000 wells have Linda Griffiths, are building microchip enother kinds of liver cells to the tissue. vironments that mimic a natural liver and, been made, suggesting the potential Brenan even envisions a day when artiif all goes well, allow normal metabolic for high-throughput screening and ficial livers based on these devices function. "When you look at the liver, the massively parallel discovery of new could be used as interim organs for cells are organized into intersecting plates, materials. The group uses fluorespeople awaiting transplants. and each cell is a certain distance from the cence detection to read the chips, but Brenan says he would classify the blood supply," Brenan explains. "Our Brenan says they are looking into work as "not necessarily" a micro-total structures recreate these conditions." mass spectrometry. analysis system (uTAS). The difference, he says, is the emphasis on biolFor tissue-based devices, the reAt the moment, the researchers are ogy. "We're not just miniaturizing searchers trade in the micromachined using only hepatocytes—the dominant wells for miwhat a chemist croscaffolds. would do," he Liver cells, as it explains. 'We're turns out, don't trying to take respond the the best elesame way to toxments of biolins when they ogy and bring are cultured indithem into the vidually as when physical systhey are sxown tems that we as a tissue. In buiid. Perhaps part, that is be•hese devices cause the liver is need a new desa mixture of difignation: micro(a) Closeup of 200
