H2020 GUTVIBRATIONS: Gut Virus Brain Axis Technology in Organoid Science (2020)

Grant agreement ID: 953201

Project status: Closed

Funded under: INDUSTRIAL LEADERSHIP - Leadership in enabling and industrial technologies – Nanotechnologies

Complex organ-on-a-chip system for biomedical research

Organoid technology has achieved a breakthrough in biomedicine, with high potential for viral pathogenesis and antiviral research. The EU-funded GUTVIBRATIONS project will combine expertise in microfabrication, organoid technology, virology, immunology, and bioengineering to create an organ-on-a-chip system as a modular human gut-brain axis multi-organ model. This system will be built by combining 3D-printed scaffold technology with human gut and brain organoids. It will include a gut epithelial layer, immune cells, a blood-brain barrier and a brain organoid, connected by vertical stacking. The extracellular matrix (ECM) scaffold called Biosilk, a recombinant spider silk protein, will result in an in vivo like microenvironmental niche. The project aims to assess the system's commercialisation by a market analysis and a business plan.