“Bite the Science” is a weekly show on TV Sloveniaa that explains science in a popular and relaxed way. With topics about modern science and research, it shows that science is an integral part of everyday life and that it is still interesting and exciting. The topics are related to the new achievements of science at the global level.
In early 2023, organs-on-chip attracted the attention of the editor of the show and so the Februar edition was devoted to the use of tissues on chip to avoid testing of drugs on animals and to select the most efficient drugs for an individual patient with rheumatoid arthritis. In the show, Annalisa Chiocchetti explained the vision of the FLAMIN-go project.
“All the drugs we use today were first tested on animals. But animal testing sometimes does not give the right results and is ethically questionable. Both weaknesses could be solved by organs on a chip. It is about several cells of individual human organs, with which they simulate our organs. Last year, the US Food and Drug Administration approved the first clinical trial of a drug for two rare autoimmune diseases using efficacy data collected only from organs on a chip. In Italy, they are developing a joint on a chip, to which individual joint cells from patients with rheumatoid arthritis will be transferred. In this way, they will be able to test which medicine is best for each individual patient. What are these organs on a chip, what organs can we have on them and what are their advantages over animal testing?”
Video link (in slovene):