Could these human stand-ins become obsolete in the lab? For many tests on cosmetics, industrial chemicals, and even pharmaceutical drugs, a new generation of computer and biochip-aided strategies may eventually replace rats and other animals with “virtual human” strategies for discovering what ails us — or could make us better.
-- Bryn Nelson"; Tech_Frontiers_virtualhuman_080317[i++] = new Array("","Your brain on a chip","","http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photo_StoryLevel/080306/080317-VirtualHuman1-hmedium.hmedium.jpg","","", "", "", "", "", "", "Will Kirk", "Johns Hopkins University", "273", "203", "#000000", "", "", "", ""); Tech_Frontiers_virtualhuman_080317[i-1].body = "Your brain on a chip
This is your brain on a chip. Well, at least a portion of it. This “lab on a chip,” created by Johns Hopkins University bioengineer Andre Levchenko and colleagues, allows scientists to conduct research on neurons in a chemical environment that mimics the brain.
";
Tech_Frontiers_virtualhuman_080317[i++] = new Array("","Billions of brain cells","","http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photo_StoryLevel/080306/080317-VirtualHuman2-hmedium.hmedium.jpg","","", "", "", "", "", "", "", "NIH", "273", "271", "#000000", "", "", "", "");
Tech_Frontiers_virtualhuman_080317[i-1].body = "Billions of brain cells
An illustrated version of a human neuron. Complicating the task of mimicking the brain, scientists believe that each of the brain’s tens of billions of neurons possesses up to 10,000 connections to neighboring cells."; Tech_Frontiers_virtualhuman_080317[i++] = new Array("","Your liver on a slide","","http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photo_StoryLevel/080306/080317-VirtualHuman3-hmedium.hmedium.jpg","","", "", "", "", "", "", "Moo-yeal Lee", "Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute", "273", "294", "#000000", "", "", "", ""); Tech_Frontiers_virtualhuman_080317[i-1].body = "Your liver on a slide
This is your liver on a slide. Actually, it’s called a DataChip, and human liver cells have been dotted across it to determine whether tested chemicals, drugs and drug candidates will prove toxic to the cells. When coupled with a close relative called the MetaChip, researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute say, the two biochips could provide a highly predictive alternative to animal testing."; Tech_Frontiers_virtualhuman_080317[i++] = new Array("","Tapping the power grid","","http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photo_StoryLevel/080306/080317-VirtualHuman4-hmedium.hmedium.jpg","","", "", "", "", "", "", "Courtesy of Peter Coveney", "University College London", "273", "357", "#000000", "", "", "", ""); Tech_Frontiers_virtualhuman_080317[i-1].body = "Tapping the power grid
A model of how the anti-HIV drug saquinavir binds to and disables the viral protease protein. Researchers at University College London have tapped the power of a supercomputer and part of the United States and United Kingdom national power grids to simulate how the drug might bind to three HIV protease mutants encountered in real life by doctors."; Tech_Frontiers_virtualhuman_080317[i++] = new Array("","The GENIUS project","","http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photo_StoryLevel/080307/080307-VirtualHuman-5-hmed.hmedium.jpg","","", "", "", "", "", "", "Courtesy of Peter Coveney", "University College London", "273", "314", "#000000", "", "", "", ""); Tech_Frontiers_virtualhuman_080317[i-1].body = "The GENIUS project
An ethereal blue network highlights this real-time visualization of blood flow through the brain, an MRI-derived image that could prove a critical aid for clinicians. The realistic simulation is the brainchild of Peter Coveney and colleagues working on the GENIUS project, which has tapped part of the national power grid in both the United States and the United Kingdom."; // END editorial data