We like to think doctors are calm, knowledgeable scientists, but the reality is, 90% of the time, they’re winging it, and we still have gaps in medical knowledge that are nothing short of ridiculous. One of those gaps is the menstrual cycle and female reproduction — half of humanity has to live with this aspect of biology and we know shockingly little about it. But now doctors have put the period on a chip, and it’s the first step to better medicine for everybody.
“Chip” in this case refers to a mix of biological cells and sensors that track how those cells function. The idea is that the cells simulate how an organ works, and how its cells react to certain drugs, so scientists can better understand them. The problem, though, is that these chips have really only been able to simulate an organ independently, and human organs are a system. So, by putting the period on a chip, this marks the first time that scientists have successfully simulated a bunch of organs working together in concert.
In the short term, this will be invaluable for understanding the reproductive system in women, something science is so ignorant about we were functionally ignorant of what the clitoris even was, basically, until 2009. There are a host of questions, from why in-vitro fertilization works for some women and not for others, and more effective ways to help women who have painful periods. In the long term, though, it’ll mean far better medicine for everyone.
Ultimately, the goal of organs on chips is to allow doctors to grab a few cells from your body, culture them into simulations of your organs, and build “you” on a chip. Right now, your doctor is basically using educated guesses and probabilities, and is weighing potential good against potential harm in the dark. Drugs can have side effects so weird and so vanishingly rare that they’re not uncovered until people start taking them, which is why nobody knew, for example, that Viagra has a risk of hearing loss. In prescribing you a drug, your doctor, to some degree, is rolling the dice you won’t beat the odds and get the side effect.
With these chips, though, working in concert, docs can practice “individualized medicine.” Instead of gambling, they can test the drug on the chip first. In a broader sense, it means we can put simulated people on file and do clinical studies faster and more effectively. And it also means we won’t have to do horrible things to animals as the technology improves, which is a nice bonus for those opposed to toxic chemicals.
In short, the period on a chip is far more than just a neat headline. It sets the stage for far better medicine.
(via Gizmodo)