Forget lab rats. Some researchers are now testing medicines on a silicon chip that could provide a better read on how a drug will work.

These scientists are building "organs on a chip," spooling together the important cells that make up, say, a lung, and then mimicking the key functions of the organ. Then researchers test to see what kind of impact a potential drug has on this lung-like system, created on a chip that is only a few inches long.

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