In a development that could lead to faster and more effective toxicity tests for airborne chemicals, scientists from Rice University and Nano3D Biosciences have used magnetic levitation to grow some of the most realistic lung tissue ever produced in a laboratory.
In the new study, researchers combined four types of cells to replicate tissue from the wall of the bronchiole deep inside the lung.
In vitro laboratory tests have historically been conducted on 2-D cell cultures grown in flat petri dishes, but scientists have become increasingly aware that cells in flat cultures sometimes behave and interact differently than cells that are immersed in 3-D tissue.