The first artificial cell organelle to help unwrap mysteries of heparin

[JBeukema]

The drug heparin is widely used to prevent blood from clotting in medical procedures ranging from dialysis to open-heart surgery. With a $6 billion market, it is one of the most common drugs used in hospitals today. But its widespread use belies its crude origins: more than 90 years after it was discovered, heparin is still made from pig intestines. But a new microfluidics chip, which mimics the actions of one of the cell's most mysterious organs, may help change that. Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, NY, have created the first artificial cellular organelle and are using it to better understand how the human body makes heparin.

Technology Review: Cell on a Chip