Indian Researchers Develop Indigenous Placenta-on-Chip Platform to Transform Pregnancy Research
Key Insights
Researchers from ICMR-NIRWoH and IIT Bombay have developed an indigenous placenta-on-chip platform that recreates key functions of the human placental barrier, published in the journal Biofabrication.
The platform successfully reproduces hormone production, nutrient transfer, waste exchange, and selective barrier function, and can model hyperglycaemic conditions resembling gestational diabetes (search).
Unlike existing systems requiring complex microfluidic equipment, the Indian platform is designed to be simple, scalable, and compatible with conventional laboratory workflows for broader adoption.
Indian scientists have achieved a significant breakthrough in maternal-fetal health research by developing an indigenous "placenta-on-chip" platform—a microphysiological system that recreates key functions of the human placental barrier in the laboratory. The collaborative effort between researchers at the ICMR-National Institute for Research on Women's Health (search) (ICMR-NIRWoH), Mumbai, and IIT Bombay was published in the journal Biofabrication.
The placenta, a temporary organ that develops during pregnancy, serves as the critical interface between mother and baby, regulating the exchange of nutrients, oxygen, hormones, drugs, and waste products while protecting the developing fetus. Despite its essential role in human development, it remains one of the least understood human organs because direct investigation during pregnancy is extremely difficult due to ethical and practical limitations.
A Functional Model of the Maternal-Fetal Interface
The new platform is a compact two-chamber device containing human placental and blood vessel cells grown on opposite sides of a porous membrane. According to the researchers, the model successfully reproduces several essential placental functions, including hormone secretion, nutrient transport, waste exchange, and selective barrier function—some of the most important biological processes that sustain pregnancy.
"The placenta is the gatekeeper between mother and baby," said Professor Deepak Modi, Scientist G at ICMR-NIRWoH and co-corresponding author of the study. "By recreating key 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, wherever scientifically appropriate, reduce dependence on animal experimentation."
The biological validation of the system was led by Anshul Bhide, who carried out much of the experimental work. "Studying the human placenta in real time is extremely challenging," Bhide said. "This platform gives us the ability to observe how nutrients, hormones and other molecules move across the maternal-fetal interface under controlled conditions. It opens new opportunities to investigate pregnancy complications and understand how the placental barrier responds to health and disease in pregnancy."
Notably, the team demonstrated the platform's disease-modeling potential by recreating hyperglycaemic conditions resembling gestational diabetes (search) and observing changes in placental transport, underscoring its utility for studying pregnancy-associated disorders.
Engineering Simplicity for Broader Adoption
Unlike many existing organ-on-chip systems that require sophisticated microfluidic equipment and continuous perfusion systems, the Indian platform has been designed to be simple, scalable, and compatible with conventional laboratory workflows. This design philosophy aims to enable wider adoption by research laboratories that may lack access to specialized infrastructure.
"Many organ-on-chip systems are powerful but often require specialised infrastructure. We wanted to develop a robust platform that could be adopted more broadly by research laboratories," said Professor Abhijit Majumder of IIT Bombay, co-corresponding author of the paper. "Our objective 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 for pregnancy and reproductive health research."
Interdisciplinary Collaboration Driving Innovation
The project brought together expertise from reproductive biology, microengineering, cell biology, and translational research. According to co-author Dr. Sourav Mukherjee, such interdisciplinary collaboration is essential for developing next-generation human-relevant models that can complement or replace animal studies in specific applications.
Dr. Geetanjali Sachdeva, Director of ICMR-NIRWoH, emphasized the broader significance of the work. "This study demonstrates how cutting-edge interdisciplinary science can address important challenges in maternal and fetal health," she 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 experimentation."
Implications for Pregnancy Research and Drug Safety
Scientists believe that advanced human-cell-based systems such as placenta-on-chip platforms could play an increasingly important role in evaluating how medicines cross the placental barrier, identifying therapies that are safe 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 (search), fetal growth restriction (search), and pre-eclampsia (search)—conditions that collectively affect millions of pregnancies worldwide.