Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

I am a 9th grader working on my science fair project, and I need to somehow make something similar to the lining/inside of the esophagus. Are there any ideas for materials that would react to stomach acid similarly to a human esophagus? The whole idea is to give the material exposure to the acid, then see if I can use other substances to bring the pH back to where it needs to be.

Hi haileerenee,

I'm sorry but I don't know any materials that would react to acid the way epithelial cells of the esophagus do.

If you have access to a bio lab, you could culture esophageal epithelial cells and test how they react/survive in presence of acid.


Hope this helps.
Peter S.