In addition to the Berzelius beaker, probably the most famous component of any biology and chemistry lab is the Petri dish. This is the substrate on which microorganisms are grown and studied, and also the place where new drugs are tested on the pathogens. The dishes also serve as a spawning ground for cell cultures, including stem cells of all kinds. When the right external conditions are met, the cells inside develop, eating away at whatever food source researchers place in the dish. But, now, the instrument is about to be revolutionized completely, thanks to scientists from the Texas Medical Center, in Houston.
The team here has only recently revealed a new laboratory-based technique for growing cell structures in three dimensions (3D), which could mark the beginning of a revolution in the fields of chemistry and biology, and other related areas. What the team did was basically move past the severe limitations of having to work in only two dimensions, and added a third one. The new approach allows for culture cells to develop in whichever way they want, just as they would when inserted into the human body. Details of the achievement appear in the latest issue of the scientific journal Nature Nanotechnology.
One of the benefits that are immediately visible from the new technology is the fact that companies and research teams could save millions of dollars each year, money that would otherwise have gone to 2D drug testing. The thing about the new system is that it's fairly simple to set up, and rather inexpensive, so it could be employed around the world very fast. It relies on levitating the cultured cells inside magnetic fields, which allows them to divide and multiply in whichever way they see fit. According to the Houston-based team, cells that are grown in this manner tend to more closely replicate the tissues that can be naturally found in the human body.
“There's a big push right now to find ways to grow cells in 3D because the body is 3D, and cultures that more closely resemble native tissue are expected to provide better results for pre-clinical drug tests. If you could improve the accuracy of early drug screenings by just 10 percent, it's estimated you could save as much as $100 million per drug,” Tom Killian, who has been a coauthor of the new research, explains. He is based at the Rice University, where he is an associate professor of physics. “A logical next step for us will be to use this additional magnetic property in targeted ways to explore possible applications in the imaging and treatment of tumors,” University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center Professor Wadih Arap, who has also been a coauthor of the study, adds.