Cyborg Organoids Offer Rare View Into Early Stages of Development
August 12, 2019 | Harvard School of Engineering and Applied SciencesEstimated reading time: 2 minutes
What happens in the early days of organ development? How do a small group of cells organize to become a heart, a brain, or a kidney? This critical period of development has long remained the black box of developmental biology, in part because no sensor was small or flexible enough to observe this process without damaging the cells.
Now, researchers from the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) have grown simplified organs known as organoids with fully integrated sensors. These so-called cyborg organoids offer a rare glimpse into the early stages of organ development.
“I was so inspired by the natural organ development process in high school, in which 3D organs start from few cells in 2D structures. I think if we can develop nanoelectronics that are so flexible, stretchable, and soft that they can grow together with developing tissue through their natural development process, the embedded sensors can measure the entire activity of this developmental process,” said Jia Liu, Assistant Professor of Bioengineering at SEAS and senior author of the study. “The end result is a piece of tissue with a nanoscale device completely distributed and integrated across the entire three-dimensional volume of the tissue.”
This type of device emerges from the work that Liu began as a graduate student in the lab of Charles M. Lieber, the Joshua and Beth Friedman University Professor. In Lieber’s lab, Liu once developed flexible, mesh-like nanoelectronics that could be injected in specific regions of tissue.
Building on that design, Liu and his team increased the stretchability of the nanoelectronics by changing the shape of the mesh from straight lines to serpentine structures (similar structures are used in wearable electronics). Then, the team transferred the mesh nanoelectronics onto a 2D sheet of stem cells, where the cells covered and interwove with the nanoelectronics via cell-cell attraction forces. As the stem cells began to morph into a 3D structure, the nanoelectronics seamlessly reconfigured themselves along with the cells, resulting in fully-grown 3D organoids with embedded sensors.
The stem cells were then differentiated into cardiomyocytes — heart cells — and the researchers were able to monitor and record the electrophysiological activity for 90 days.
“This method allows us to continuously monitor the developmental process and understand how the dynamics of individual cells start to interact and synchronize during the entire developmental process,” said Liu. “It could be used to turn any organoid into cyborg organoids, including brain and pancreas organoids.”
In addition to helping answer fundamental questions about biology, cyborg organoids could be used to test and monitor patient-specific drug treatments and potentially used for transplantations.
Suggested Items
Cadence, TSMC Collaborate on Wide-Ranging Innovations to Transform System and Semiconductor Design
04/25/2024 | Cadence Design SystemsCadence Design Systems, Inc. and TSMC have extended their longstanding collaboration by announcing a broad range of innovative technology advancements to accelerate design, including developments ranging from 3D-IC and advanced process nodes to design IP and photonics.
Designer’s Notebook: What Designers Need to Know About Manufacturing, Part 2
04/24/2024 | Vern Solberg -- Column: Designer's NotebookThe printed circuit board (PCB) is the primary base element for providing the interconnect platform for mounting and electrically joining electronic components. When assessing PCB design complexity, first consider the component area and board area ratio. If the surface area for the component interface is restricted, it may justify adopting multilayer or multilayer sequential buildup (SBU) PCB fabrication to enable a more efficient sub-surface circuit interconnect.
Real Time with... IPC APEX EXPO 2024: Advancements in Laser Depaneling with LPKF
04/24/2024 | Real Time with...IPC APEX EXPOJake Benz, LPKF sales manager for North America, discusses the company's advancements in laser depaneling. LPKF has introduced a green wavelength laser for processing rigid FR-4 circuit boards, bringing significant gains in processing speeds to market. The company transitioned from IR CO2 to UV wavelength due to heat and burning issues.
KYZEN to Focus on AQUANOX A4618 at SMTA Wisconsin Expo & Tech Forum
04/22/2024 | KYZEN'KYZEN, the global leader in innovative environmentally friendly cleaning chemistries, will exhibit at the SMTA Wisconsin Expo & Tech Forum, scheduled to take place Tuesday, May 7, 2024 at the Four Poins by Sheraton, Milwaukee Airport in Milwaukee, WI.
AIM Solder’s Dillon Zhu to Present on Ultraminiature Soldering at SMTA China East
04/22/2024 | AIMAIM Solder, a leading global manufacturer of solder assembly materials for the electronics industry, is pleased to announce that Dillon Zhu will present on the topic: Ultraminiature Soldering: Techniques, Technologies, and Standards at SMTA China East. This event is being held at the Shanghai World Expo Exhibition & Convention Center from April 24-25.