Lung-on-a-chip research could give us new ways to fight disease

Scientists at Harvard’s Wyss Institute have managed to recreate a pulmonary edema (a build-up of fluid in the lungs) inside a lung-on-a-chip. The team used techniques similar to those developed for microchip manufacturing to build the mechanical structure of a lung before lining it with human tissues. Air is passed through one side of the lung, while a liquid solution containing white blood cells mimics blood on the other side.