Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) www.lanl.gov has released a Request for Information (RFI) to gauge how interested industry is in partnering with LANL to advance the “Next-Gen In-Vitro Platform for Lead Compound and Toxicity Screening.” This technology could prove to be very important in determining the amount of lead in human organs.
Over the past three years, Los Alamos scientists have been developing a surrogate human organ bioreactor, coupled with highly sensitive analytical technologies referred to as the “Advanced Tissue-Engineered Human Ectypal Networks Analyzer” (ATHENA). The platform can screen for lead compounds and test medical countermeasures for toxicity.
This fluidic bio-assessment platform presents a potential solution to the disadvantages of current approaches that occur when conventional cell culture techniques aren’t able to deal with the complexity of human organs. The current standard of doing tests on animals has proven to be an inadequate substitute.
However, despite impressive advances in 3D cultures and engineered organs, there is still no viable alternative to cell culture or animal testing. The potential of engineered organs will be realized by more complex, powerful, and integrated systems.
For ATHENA‘s continued success, it is important that the technology used is able to perform an accurate simulation of human organs with the ability to interconnect the integrated system. It is also necessary at the same time for researchers to continue to develop a portable, durable, and rugged system to handle all of the data.
This RFI was issued to find potential areas where partners could work together to advance the ATHENA platform. If anyone is interested in pursuing this opportunity, they should send a Letter of Interest as well as any comments or questions to athena@lanl.govbefor by April 29, 2016.
Go to www.lanl.gov/projects/feynamn-center/_assets/pdf/rfi-athena-in-vitro-assessment.pdf to view the pdf describing the details for the project.