Scientists develop transparent eggshell to watch embryo grow (VIDEO)
![Scientists develop transparent eggshell to watch embryo grow (VIDEO)](https://mf.b37mrtl.ru/files/news/38/3c/f0/00/chiken.si.jpg)
A biomimicry system of a see-through eggshell that lets scientists explore the way a chicken embryo develops has been produced in China. It is regarded as a major step in the technology of lab-on-a-chip (LOC) schemes.
Two scientists at Tsinghua University in Beijing have presented their advance in creating an embryo lab on a chip. This became possible with the use of PDMS (polydimethylsiloxane) – a “soft” process method that allows the fabrication of a transparent shell, replicating a real bird eggshell. The study was recently published in the journal Science China Technological Sciences.
LOC schemes – 3D microfluidic cell culture chips – in fact, can simulate a variety of organs, such as hearts, or kidneys, or skin, but an embryo is particularly hard to replicate.
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Professor Liu Jing and graduate student Lai Yiyu decided to drop the idea of conventional, chemically based LOC, and replaced it with a biological base. According to the press release, PDMS “is among the best biomaterials for many applications,” and the new system gives the possibility of integration of “multiple techniques.”
![Transfer technologies for PDMS whole eggshell (Image from Science China Technological Sciences journal)](https://mf.b37mrtl.ru/files/news/38/3c/f0/00/china1.jpg)
“With both high optical transparency and engineering subtlety fully integrated together, the present method not only provides an ideal transparent imaging platform for studying functional embryo development, but also promises a future strategy for ‘lab-on-an-egg’ technology which may be important in a wide variety of either fundamental or practical areas,” the scientists wrote.
![Incubation of an avian embryo with PDMS whole eggshell (Image from Science China Technological Sciences journal)](https://mf.b37mrtl.ru/files/news/38/3c/f0/00/china2.jpg)
The team conducted a series of experiments on leghorn eggs over a two-year period, with transparent “eggshells” able to successfully culture embryos for up to 17.5 days. They therefore offered biologists and clinical researchers a platform for in vivo fluorescent imaging, which is difficult in warm-blooded animals.
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The authors also mentioned potential future applications of their technology: for instance, “egg-on-chip” labs could be used for early diagnosis of blood or any other body fluid specimens.