Georgia Tech and Vanderbilt researchers have developed the first lung-on-a-chip with a functioning immune system, a breakthrough published in Nature Biomedical Engineering. Led by Ankur Singh and Krishnendu “Krish” Roy, the team created a postage stamp–sized device where blood and immune cells circulate, fight infection, and heal, just as they would in a living lung. The advance not only provides unprecedented insight into diseases like influenza, asthma, and cancer but also offers a path toward reducing animal testing. Long-term, the technology could enable personalized medicine, with chips built from patients’ own cells to predict which therapies will work best.
