Our Crowdfunding Groups
Modern drug testing methods lack reliable in vitro designs to mimic in vivo situations, and often times do not accurately predict human response. Our research focuses on creating microfluidic devices that will allow us to move towards a more effective methods of testing drugs using human cells.
Our goal is to create a microfluidic 3-D cell culture system representing "Organs-on-Chips" in order to mimic the conditions cells would experience within the human body. Our innovative design will be an accurate representation for organs in the body, and hopefully researchers will have the opportunity to use it to study drug testing and toxicology. As we study Organs-on-Chips, we will bring ourselves closer to the end goal of creating a body-on-a-chip, where the effect of drugs can be studied on a broader scale.
Our current goals are to create microfluidic 3-D cell culture systems representing two organs: the placenta and the brain. A ‘placenta-on-a-chip’ would mimic the nutrient/waste transfer between maternal blood and fetal blood that occurs in the placenta, and to test and observe the effects of non-ideal situations. We can also compare our results to a similar in vivo studies from literature to check the accuracy of our models. Likewise, producing a ‘brain-on-a-chip’ will allow for the study of how physiological situations will affect the health of neurons, and may have implications in regenerative medicine.
Making a significant impact to the field of Organs-on-Chips technology is our goal. We are currently in the early experimentation phase, where we are growing cells in our chip. We would like to have the opportunity to use the types of trophoblast cells that will more closely mimic a placenta during pregnancy. With this funding, we would be able to purchase these cells, and the supplies and tools used for maintaining and growing them, so that we can continue experimentation with our chip.
Since we are dealing with cells, sterilization is very important to us. This means that we need to have single-use tools like gloves and pipettes. As an Interphase donator, you will help us to purchase these tools.
Another important part of cell culturing includes sterile conical centrifuge tubes to store medium in small quantities and other processes. As a Prophase donator, you would be supplying us with centrifuge tubes and other similar tools like micropipette tips.
In cell culturing, we need media to help grow and feed cells. As a Prometaphase donator you would be helping us purchase base and growth media or other similar materials.
A Metaphase donation would help us purchase other chemicals used in cell culturing, like fluorescent dyes used to photograph cells and PDMS, a chemical used to create the chips.
We use a lot of flasks and well plates in cell culturing. An Anaphase donation would allow us to purchase such materials.
The cells we need to use are very expensive. An Telophase level donation would help enable us to purchase the cells we use to carry out experiments.
Cytokinesis-level donations would go towards purchasing more expensive equipment used around the lab, such as syringe pumps or centrifuges.