Scientists invent first "Vagina-on-a-Chip"

Researchers at the Wyss Institute at Harvard University have created a new Organ Chip that replicates the human vaginal tissue microenvironment including its microbiome in vitro. Composed of human vaginal epithelium and underlying connective tissue cells, the Vagina Chip replicates many of the physiological features of the vagina and can be inoculated with different strains of bacteria to study their effects on the organ's health. The chip is described in a new paper published in Microbiome.

Reference:

Mahajan, G., Doherty, E., To, T. et al. Vaginal microbiome-host interactions modeled in a human vagina-on-a-chip. Microbiome 10, 201 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40168-022-01400-1