Organ Chips and Translational Research: Identifying and Examining New Ethical Issues

ABSTRACT

Organ chips, also known as organ‐on‐a‐chip devices, tissue chips, or microphysiological systems, have emerged over the last decade as a promising translational technology amidst growing concern about the translational crisis between laboratory research and patient bedside. Pointing to high rates of failure between nonhuman animal models and safety and efficacy in humans, organ chips and similar new approach methods have attracted substantial public and private investment. As human‐cell‐based alternatives to animal models, organ chips promise more predictive, efficient, and ethical platforms for pharmaceutical and toxicity testing. Engineered cultivation systems that enable cells to assemble into tissue‐like structures (e.g. kidney, brain, liver), organ chips mimic tissue architecture and function and live for extended periods of time. This essay considers the translational bioethics issues raised by organ chips, including those that arise early in development such as the obfuscation of cell‐origin data, representation in design, and the normalization of conflicts of interest within commercialization‐oriented translational science efforts. Integrating a translational bioethics lens from the outset, rather than deferring social and ethical implications analysis to downstream points in technology development and adoption, is essential to realizing the translational promise of organ chips while avoiding the reproduction of existing inequities and ethical conundrums.