Tina Bürki sees the placenta-embryo chip as the future for developmental toxicity tests. Image: Empa
Tina Bürki sees the placenta-embryo chip as the future for developmental toxicity tests. Image: Empa - Researchers are developing a medical chip in collaboration with the ETH Zurich and the Cantonal Hospital of St.Gallen that will allow statements to be made about the effect of substances on babies in the womb. The Zurich-based ProCare Foundation is funding the project, which was recently launched. New drugs made from nanoparticles that can easily penetrate any interface within our bodies are a great hope in medicine. For such hopefuls to reach the market, their safety must be ensured. In this context, it must also be clarified what happens if a substance manages to penetrate the natural barrier between baby and mother, the placenta, in the body of pregnant women. "Environmental toxins can also pose a major threat to the sensitive fetus if they penetrate the placental barrier or disrupt the development and function of the placenta, thus indirectly harming the fetus," explains Tina Bürki, Empa researcher at the Particles-Biology Interactions lab in St. Gallen.
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