Medical

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BiO Assay: New Method Uses Free iPod App to Test Drug Toxicity

Rice University student interns have helped Houston-based startup Nano3D Biosciences develop a high-throughput method for in vitro cytotoxicity assays that uses a free iPod app and analytical software for automated data collection and analysis. Nano3D Biosciences's technology grows 3D cell cultures using magnetic levitation. The new assay method, which the company has dubbed the 'BiO Assay,' uses a free iPod app to collect time-lapse images of 3D cell cultures that have been exposed to varying levels of a drug. Those images are then fed through an analytical program that measures each sample and creates time-lapse movies, graphs, and charts of the drug's cytotoxic profile.