We all know about the miracle of miniaturization. Back in the day, computers used to fill this entire room, and people actually used to work inside the computers. [..] The good news is that the same technology that allowed miniaturization of electronics is now allowing us to miniaturize biological laboratories. So, right now, we can actually miniaturize biological and chemistry laboratories onto microfluidic chips [..] so you have integrated valves, pumps, mixers and injectors — so you can fit entire diagnostic experiments onto a microfluidic system.

Fredrick Balagadde, UMass Lowell

By combining tissue engineering techniques with microfluidics, the field is actually evolving towards just that, a model of the entire ecosystem of the body, complete with multiple organ systems to be able to test how a drug you might take for your blood pressure might affect your liver or an antidepressant might affect your heart. These systems are really hard to build, but we’re just starting to be able to get there, and so, watch out.

Nina Tandon, CEO @ EpiBone

This could really revolutionize and be a game changer for not only the pharmaceutical industry, but a whole host of different industries, including the cosmetics industry. We can [..] test whether the ingredients in those products that you’re using are actually safe to put on your skin without the need for animal testing. We could test the safety of chemicals that we are exposed to on a daily basis in our environment, such as chemicals in regular household cleaners. We could also use the organs on chips for applications in bioterrorism or radiation exposure. We could use them to learn more about diseases such as ebola or other deadly diseases such as SARS.

Geraldine Hamilton, Wyss Institute Harvard