Indian Scientists Develop Indigenous Placenta-On-Chip Platform To Advance Pregnancy Research, Reduce Animal Testing

Mumbai, July 4, 2026: In a significant step for maternal and fetal health research, Indian scientists have developed an indigenous “placenta-on-chip” platform that recreates key functions of the human placenta in a laboratory.

The innovation is expected to help researchers better understand pregnancy, study complications and evaluate how medicines cross the placental barrier without relying heavily on animal models.

The platform has been developed by researchers from the ICMR-National Institute for Research on Women’s Health (ICMR-NIRWoH), formerly known as ICMR-NIRRCH, Mumbai, in collaboration with IIT Bombay. The findings have been published in the journal Biofabrication.

The researchers said the microphysiological system mimics the interface between the mother and the fetus, allowing scientists to study one of the least understood yet most vital human organs.

Breakthrough For Pregnancy Research

Before a baby is born, the placenta acts as its life-support system by supplying oxygen and nutrients, removing waste products, protecting the developing fetus and producing hormones needed to sustain pregnancy.

Despite its crucial role, scientists have found it difficult to study the placenta directly during pregnancy, making research in this area particularly challenging.

The newly developed device reproduces several essential functions of the placenta, including hormone production, nutrient transfer, waste exchange and selective barrier function.

According to the researchers, it also produces pregnancy hormones, transports glucose from the maternal side to the fetal side, removes waste products such as urea and responds to hyperglycaemic conditions that resemble gestational diabetes.

The team believes these capabilities make the platform a valuable tool for studying placental biology, understanding pregnancy-related complications, evaluating how medicines move across the placental barrier and supporting the development of more predictive, human-relevant research models.

Designed For Wider Use

Unlike many existing placenta-on-chip systems that depend on sophisticated microfluidic equipment and continuous perfusion systems, the Indian platform has been designed to be simple, scalable and compatible with conventional laboratory infrastructure. The researchers said this could make it easier for laboratories across the country to adopt the technology.

Professor Deepak Modi, Scientist G at ICMR-NIRWoH and co-corresponding author of the study, said every human being depends on the placenta before birth, yet it remains one of the least understood organs.

He described the placenta as the gatekeeper between the mother and the baby and said recreating its key functions on a chip would provide researchers with a practical human-based platform to improve understanding of pregnancy, enhance maternal and fetal health and, wherever scientifically appropriate, reduce dependence on animal experimentation.

The biological validation of the platform was led by Anshul Bhide, who said studying the human placenta in real time is extremely difficult. He said the system enables researchers to observe how nutrients, hormones and other molecules move across the maternal-fetal interface under controlled conditions.

Bhide added that the team successfully modelled hyperglycaemic conditions resembling gestational diabetes and observed changes in placental transport, demonstrating the platform's potential for studying pregnancy-related disorders.

Interdisciplinary Collaboration Highlighted

The engineering design and fabrication of the platform were carried out at IIT Bombay under the guidance of Professor Abhijit Majumder, who said organ-on-chip technologies are transforming biomedical research by recreating human physiology in laboratory settings.

He said the team's objective was to develop a robust and scalable platform that combines engineering simplicity with biological relevance while remaining compatible with standard laboratory infrastructure to encourage wider adoption.

The study also underlines the importance of collaboration between engineers and biomedical scientists. Co-author Dr Sourav Mukherjee said the project brought together expertise in reproductive biology, microengineering, cell biology and translational research.

He said such interdisciplinary collaborations are essential for developing next-generation human-relevant models that can complement or replace animal studies in specific applications.

The researchers said advanced human-cell-based systems such as placenta-on-chip platforms could play an increasingly important role in evaluating the safety of medicines during pregnancy, identifying safer therapies for pregnant women and reducing reliance on animal models in selected areas of reproductive research.

They added that the technology could also provide new insights into conditions such as gestational diabetes, fetal growth restriction and pre-eclampsia.

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Dr Geetanjali Sachdeva, Director of ICMR-NIRWoH, said the study reflects the institute's commitment to developing innovative solutions for women’s and reproductive health.

She said the work strengthens India’s capabilities in biomedical innovation while aligning with global efforts to develop more predictive alternatives to animal experimentation.

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