The Potential of Organ on Chip Technology for Replacing Animal Testing

The term organ on a chip is used to describe the latest stage of development of in vitro cell culture technology. Figure 26.1 shows its steady development since the 1960s. Each step forward has improved our ability to model human-clinical response to new drugs or therapies and has enabled safety risk assessment of existing cosmetics, personal care products, or other chemicals in the environment. Scientific evidence that the predictive power of in vitro tests is superior to the use of animals will trigger a major shift in the way that medical research, in many areas, is carried out. In this emerging field, some researchers also refer to organ on a chip as a microphysiological system. As yet, there are few agreed upon standards or definitions for the latest developments

The Potential of Organ on Chip Technology for Replacing Animal Testing

The term organ on a chip is used to describe the latest stage of development of in vitro cell culture technology. Figure 26.1 shows its steady development since the 1960s. Each step forward has improved our ability to model human-clinical response to new drugs or therapies and has enabled safety risk assessment of existing cosmetics, personal care products, or other chemicals in the environment. Scientific evidence that the predictive power of in vitro tests is superior to the use of animals will trigger a major shift in the way that medical research, in many areas, is carried out. In this emerging field, some researchers also refer to organ on a chip as a microphysiological system. As yet, there are few agreed upon standards or definitions for the latest developments

Withholding and withdrawing life-sustaining treatment in a patient's best interests: Australian judicial deliberations

•Intractable disputes about withholding and withdrawing life-sustaining treatment from adults who lack capacity are rare but challenging. Judicial resolution may be needed in some of these cases. •A central concept for judicial (and clinical) decision making in this area is a patient's “best interests”. Yet what this term means is contested. •There is an emerging Supreme Court jurisprudence that sheds light on when life-sustaining treatment will, or will not, be judged to be in a patient's best interests. •Treatment that is either futile or overly burdensome is not in a patient's best interests. Although courts will consider patient and family wishes, they have generally deferred to the views of medical practitioners about treatment decisions

A review of complex in vitro cell culture stressing the importance of fluid flow and illustrated by organ on a chip liver models

The translation of new technology from development into widespread commercial use is a complex and time-consuming process that requires significant investment. This review looks at some important market needs for more complex in vitro models, the technical difficulties that must be overcome, particularly those connected with introducing fluid flow using microfluidics, and also illustrates the economic benefits of more accurate models for drug toxicity. Beyond the strong ethical arguments for replacing the use of animals in drug safety testing and medical research, the author believes that financial benefits of adopting the new in vitro technology are becoming clear and will drive the adoption by industry

Analysis of the Effect of a Sunscreen Agent on the Suppression of Natural Killer Cell Activity Induced in Human Subjects by Radiation from Solarium Lamps

Previous studies in rodents have shown that ultraviolet radiation (UVR) may have direct effects on the immune system in the skin and at higher doses may induce systemic suppression of immune responses. We have previously shown that UVR from sun or solarium beds may induce systemic effects in human subjects. The purpose of the present study was to examine whether these systemic effects in human subjects could be prevented by use of commercially available sunscreen agents. Groups of 12 normal subjects were exposed to radiation from solarium lamps after application of a sunscreen agent or the base used in its preparation. Twelve half-hourly exposures induced a depression of natural killer (NK) cell activity against a melanoma and the K562 target cell which was not prevented by use of the sunscreen agent. Changes in functional activity were accompanied by a reduction in NK cell numbers assessed by Leu-11 monoclonal antibodies against the labile Fc receptor. Application of the sunscreen agent also did not protect against effects of solarium exposure on recall antigen skin tests and immunoglobulin production in vitro in pokeweed mitogen-stimulated cultures of B and T cells. These results suggest that further evaluation of the wavelength spectrum of UVR and the effectiveness of sunscreen agents in prevention of UVR-induced effects on the immune system is needed

Metrics to assess how longitudinal channel network connectivity and in-stream Atlantic salmon habitats are impacted by hydropower regulation

Acknowledgements Thanks to the Scottish Government's Hydro Nation Scholars Program for funding WBB to do this research. Also, many thanks to colleagues at Marine Science Scotland and the James Hutton Institute for providing some of the datasets used in this work. The authors thank the anonymous referees for constructive feedback on the manuscript.Peer reviewedPostprintPostprin

Integration of juvenile habitat quality and river connectivity models to understand and prioritise the management of barriers for Atlantic salmon populations across spatial scales

Thanks to the Scottish Government Hydro Nation Scholarship programme for funding WBB. Authors from Marine Scotland Science Freshwater Fisheries Laboratories delivered this work through Service Level Agreement FW02G. Some map features are based on digital spatial data licensed from CEH, NERC© Crown Copyright and database right (2018), all rights reserved. Ordnance Survey License number 100024655. Catchment boundaries were from SEPA (2009). The Obstacles to Fish Migration dataset is from SEPA. The authors thank the two anonymous referees for their feedback on the manuscript.Peer reviewedPostprin