Indian Scientists Recreate Key Functions Of Human Placenta On A Chip
New Delhi : Before a baby takes its first breath, its life depends on an extraordinary organ that most people rarely think about: the placenta. Serving as the baby’s first life support system, the placenta provides oxygen and nutrients, removes waste products, protects the developing fetus, and produces hormones necessary to maintain the pregnancy.
But despite its critical role in human development, it remains one of the least understood human organs because it is difficult to study directly during pregnancy. However, this mystery may now be somehow solved.
Researchers from ICMR-National Research Institute of Women’s Health (formerly ICMR-NIRRCH) in Mumbai, in collaboration with IIT Bombay, have developed an indigenous laboratory-grown “placenta-on-a-chip” platform that recreates the basic functions of the human placental barrier.
The study, published in the journal Biofabrication, describes a microphysiological system that mimics the interface between mother and fetus.
The device reproduces several essential functions of the human placenta, including hormone production, nutrient transport, waste exchange, and selective barrier function, some of the most important biological processes that enable pregnancy to be maintained.
The platform produces pregnancy hormones, transports glucose from the mother to the fetus, removes waste products such as urea, and responds to hyperglycemic conditions that resemble gestational diabetes, the researchers said.
These capabilities make it a promising platform for studying placental biology, understanding pregnancy complications, assessing how drugs cross the placental barrier, and supporting the development of more predictive human research models.
The authors argued that, unlike many existing placenta systems-on-a-chip that require complex microfluidic equipment and continuous perfusion systems, the Indian platform is designed to be simple, scalable, and compatible with traditional laboratory workflows, potentially allowing for broader adoption by research laboratories.
“Each of us depended on the placenta for survival before birth, yet it remains one of the least understood human organs,” said Professor Deepak Modi, Scientist G at ICMR-National Research Institute on Women’s Health (ICMR-NIRWoH) and co-author of the study.
“The placenta is the gatekeeper between mother and baby. By recreating the essential functions of this remarkable organ on a chip, we hope to provide researchers with a practical human-based platform to better understand pregnancy, improve maternal and fetal health, and reduce dependence on animal testing where scientifically appropriate,” he said.
The work was led by Anshul Bhide, who performed most of the biological validation of the system.
“It is extremely difficult to study the human placenta in real time,” Bhide said.
“This platform gives us the ability to observe how nutrients, hormones, and other molecules act at the maternal-fetal interface under controlled conditions. It opens new opportunities to study pregnancy complications and understand how the placental barrier responds to health and disease in pregnancy.”
“For example, we were able to model hyperglycemic conditions resembling gestational diabetes and observe changes in placental transport, demonstrating the potential of the platform to study pregnancy-related disorders,” Bhide said.
The engineering design and fabrication of the platform was developed at IIT Bombay under the guidance of Professor Abhijit Majumder, co-author of the paper.
“Organ-on-a-chip technologies are transforming biomedical research worldwide because they allow us to recreate human physiology in the laboratory,” Majumder said. he said.
“Our goal was to develop a robust and scalable platform that combines engineering simplicity with biological relevance. By making the system compatible with standard laboratory infrastructure, we hope to accelerate its adoption in pregnancy and reproductive health research,” he added.
The study also highlights the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration between engineers and biomedical scientists.
Co-author Dr. According to Sourav Mukherjee, the project brought together experts in reproductive biology, microengineering, cell biology and translational research.
“Such collaborations are essential for developing the next generation of human-relevant models that can complement or replace animal studies in certain applications,” he said.
Scientists believe that advanced human cell-based systems, such as placenta-on-a-chip platforms, may play an increasingly important role in assessing how drugs cross the placental barrier, identifying safe treatments during pregnancy, and reducing reliance on animal models in selected areas of reproductive research.
The technology may also provide new insights into disorders such as gestational diabetes, fetal growth restriction and preeclampsia.
Dr Geetanjali Sachdeva, Director, ICMR-NIRWoH, said the study reflects the institute’s commitment to developing innovative solutions for women and reproductive health.
“This study demonstrates how cutting-edge interdisciplinary science can solve important challenges in maternal and fetal health,” Sachdeva said. he said.
“The development of advanced human-relevant models within the country strengthens India’s capabilities in biomedical innovation and aligns with global efforts to develop more predictive alternatives to animal testing,” he added.
