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Nature Materials 7, 609–610 (1 August 2008) | doi:10.1038/nmat2238

Cellular matrices: Physiology in microfluidics

Jeffrey A. Hubbell

Cell biologists and biomaterials scientists are pursuing materials and methods that mimic the three-dimensional microenvironment of the in vivo extracellular matrix. Such technologies are sorely needed to investigate important processes such as the formation of complex tissue shapes from different cells, the propensity of normal cells to become capable of causing tumours, and the spreading of tumour cells throughout the body.