We believe that the exploitation of animals is unethical and, in turn, we would oppose the use of animals in experimentation regardless of any benefits that such research might realize for people. But it just so happens that science is also on our side.
While the animal research industry continues to breed, buy, cage, torture, and kill sentient beings, progressive scientists are busy proving that human-relevant science is not only possible but, in fact, better for us all. August 2024 highlights in science are below.
Making Drug Discovery More Efficient by Using Human Organ Models
CN-Bio, 8/1/2024
“A frequently reported fact in the drug discovery and development industry is that approximately 90 % [sic] of drug candidates reaching clinical trials fail, with even higher amounts discarded before arriving at the clinic.”
“The routine use of [organ-on-a-chip] technology] within drug discovery and development workflows is happening – it simply does a better job than traditional approaches [including animal research, which “lack[s] human relevance”]. Smart investment in the technology alongside additional NAMS {New Approach Methodologies that aim “to bridge the relevance gap by modeling the physiological processes of human organs and systems”] . . . will potentially save countless hours and billions of research and development dollars.” 📰 Full Story →
AI-Powered Male Infertility Blood Test, Developed by Japan
Aldohn Domingo, 8/1/2024
“Japanese researchers have reportedly developed a novel artificial intelligence model that can predict male infertility using a basic blood test with approximately 74% accuracy by examining hormone levels in the blood test. Significantly, it has shown a 100% success rate in detecting non-obstructive azoospermia [“a severe form of infertility”]….”
“While AI is improving male infertility tests, this year also saw scientists developing lab-grown testicle organoids that closely imitate natural testes, potentially revolutionizing infertility treatment.” 📰 Full Story →
Turkish University’s ‘Organ-on-Chip’ Project Targets Animal-Free Testing
Daily Sabah with Anadolu Agency, 8/5/2024
“Under the Horizon Europe program supported by the European Union, the ‘Organ-on-Chip Systems Oriented Strategic Partnership (OrChESTRA)’ project has commenced . . . This collaborative effort involves partners from three countries and aims to develop chips for drug research that will replace the use of laboratory animals.”
“Kuelah [] mentioned that the four institutions are collectively working on developing a gut-on-chip platform . . . ‘In order to make an informed judgment about a drug’s effectiveness, it is necessary to examine its absorption. On our gut-on-chip platform, we model the intestinal wall with microchannels representing both the inner and outer sides, placing sensors to measure the drug’s absorption in real time.”
“Yildirim emphasized the project’s significance, stating, ‘The project could lead to the more accurate design of drugs and potentially reduce or even eliminate the use of laboratory animals in testing in the long term.” 📰 Full Story →
Organoid Research Key to Exploring Relationship Between Crohn’s and Mental Health
University of Saskatchewan, 8/7/2024
“The answers to a crucial connection between the gut and the brain of individuals dealing with Crohn’s disease might lie in tiny, lab-grown brain and intestine organoids at the University of Saskatchewan….”
“While most work in this area so far has been conducted with animal models, Hall and her team hope to develop tiny intestinal organoids – cell clusters made from human stem cells and grown into intestinal cells – so they can test on a more human model . . . the research team will aim to create an organoid model that replicates the gut-brain axis between intestinal and brain organoids.”
“‘This has the potential to impact a large population of people who are suffering from a very complex disorder,’….” 📰 Full Story →
Lab-grown ‘Mini-Lungs’ Reveal COVID’s Impact on Our Lungs – and Potential Paths to Treatment
Darren Incorvaia, 8/7/2024
“Though we’ve now been living with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, for close to five years, many aspects of its biology and pathology remain mysterious . . . our understanding of SARS-CoV-2 has been hampered by an inability to study the pathogen in its natural habitat–a living, breathing human lung. Thankfully, lung biology Sandra Leibel, M.D., has been working with ‘mini-lungs’ derived from human stem cells….”
“[Infecting Dr. Leibel’s mini-lung organoids with variants of the virus] revealed the virus’s hidden infectious capability, a lung-specific immune response, and potential avenues for preventing and maybe even treating COVID-19.” 📰 Full Story →
Mammary Glands in a Dish – What Miniature Organs Reveal About Evolution, Lactation, Regeneration and Breast Cancer
Gat Rauner, 8/13/2024
“All mammals have mammary glands that produce milk, a feature that has fascinated scientists for many years . . . the Rauner Lab of Tufts University School of Medicine is recreating mammalian diversity in a dish through miniature versions of mammary glands – organoids. These models can shed light on the fundamental biological processes behind milk production, tissue regeneration and the early stages of breast cancer development.”
“Researchers have traditionally used organoids to model human diseases, test drugs and study developmental biology. However, their potential extends far beyond these applications, particularly in the field of evolutionary biology.”
“Mammary organoids can also help with breast cancer research”, including by providing “a platform to study the early events of tumor formation and the cellular environment that contributes to cancer development.” 📰 Full Story →
Molecular Devices Opens Industrial-Scale Organoids Facility with ‘Restricted’ Lab
Sophie Bullimore, 8/19/2024
“Global life science and 3D biology expert Molecular Devices has launched a facility in Cardiff, dedicated to research, development, and industrial-scale manufacture of organoids. The organoid structures originate from human stem cells and represent organs in the body.”
“The ability to produce organoids at such a large scale is unprecedented and offers the potential to streamline the drug discovery process, allowing for a rapid transition from laboratory research to medical applications and reducing the high failure rates commonly seen in clinical trials.” 📰 Full Story →
Key Partnership Increases Access to Organoid Models
Charles Carter, 8/20/2024
“Patient-derived organoids address the urgent need for more predictive in vitro models for biopharmaceutical applications. However, challenges around standardization and scale up remain.”
“ . . . the partnership between HUB Organoids and Molecular Devices [] aims to increase the access of organoids for both academia and industry.” 📰 Full Story →
A New Culprit in Huntington’s: Brain Organoid Model Implicates Gene in Disease Progression
Gunjan Sinha, 8/22/2024
Using “a brain organoid model of the disease”, “researchers have implicated the gene CHCHD2 in Huntingdon’s disease (HD)–an incurable genetic neurodegenerative disorder–and identified the gene as a potentially new therapeutic target.”
“ . . . ‘the organoid model suggests that [Huntington gene] HTT mutations damage brain development even before clinical symptoms appear, highlighting the importance of detecting the late-onset neurodegenerative disease early,’….”
“The findings may also have broader applications for other neurodegenerative diseases….” 📰 Full Story →
3-D Printed Living Cells Pave Way for Tomorrow’s Medicine and Cruelty-Free Animal Products
Tereza Pultarova, 8/23/2024
“As part of a research initiative called ENLIGHT, which runs from 2021 to 2025, [a team of European researchers] [is] developing a miniature 3D-printed pancreas made of human cells. This, they hope, could improve the reliability and accuracy of testing of new therapies to treat diabetes and, perhaps, even one day lead to the possibility of lab-grown organs for human transplants.”
“One of the advantages of the ENLIGHT team’s work is that it could greatly reduce the need for animal testing. Being able to print life-like human organoids would not only improve the accuracy of drug testing, but would mean that the suffering of millions of laboratory animals could be avoided.” 📰 Full Story →
Chlamydia Can Settle in the Intestine, Organoid Experiments Reveal
Robert Emmerich, Julius-Maximillians-Universitaet Wuerzburg, 8/23/2024
“A phenomenon is known from everyday clinical practice that can occur after successful antibiotic treatment: When people who have already been treated come to the doctor with a new chlamydia infection, they are often infected with exactly the same strains of bacteria as the previous infection. ‘It is therefore reasonable to assume that the bacteria find a niche in the body where they are not yet vulnerable, that they form a permanent reservoir there and can become active again later,’….”
“The researchers identified the intestine as a niche with the help of artificial organs in miniature format, so-called organoids. These are structures produced in the laboratory from human intestinal cells that are very similar in structure and function to the model organ.” 📰 Full Story →
Mini-Brains Built From Blood: ‘Crazy Idea’ Could Revolutionize Alzheimer’s Treatment
University of Saskatchewan, 8/25/2024
“Dr. Tyler Wenzel from the University of Saskatchewan [] has devised an innovative new method to build miniature brains from stem cells. Wenzel’s “mini-brain” could revolutionize the way Alzheimer’s and other brain-related diseases are diagnosed and treated.”
“These ‘mini-brains’ are built by creating stem cells from a blood sample, and then transforming these stem cells into functioning brain cells. Using small synthetic organoids for research is not a novel concept – but the ‘mini-brains’ developed in Wenzel’s lab are unique . . . the brains from Wenzel’s lab are comprised of four different types of brain cells while most brain organoids are comprised of only neurons” and “more accurately reflect a fully-fledged adult human brain, so they can be used to more closely examine neurological conditions of adult patients, such as Alzheimer’s disease.” 📰 Full Story →
Scientists Say Machine Learning May Accelerate Global Ban on Animal Testing Outside EU
Personal Care Insights, 8/27/2024
“In an era where machine learning models are used to predict the safety of cosmetic products, scientists from the University of Vienna, Austria, developed MolCompass to identify ‘blind spots’ in the chemical space to support the global push toward eliminating animal testing.”
“‘While animal testing [in cosmetics] is fully banned in the EU, it remains permissible in some countries where non-animal methods, including machine learning models, are considered less reliable for regulatory purposes. To overcome this lack of trust, a more robust characterization of these machine learning models is necessary. MolCompass can assist companies and authorities in analyzing the performance of machine learning models used in cosmetics, for example, for skin sensitivity. The more trust authorities place in in-silico modeling, the higher the likelihood that a full ban on animal testing will be implemented in countries where it is still allowed.” 📰 Full Story →
University of Basel is Investigating Pneumonia Using Human Mini-Lungs
Doctors Against Animal Experiments, 8/29/2024
“Antibiotic-resistant germs are particularly feared in hospitals. One of them is Pseudomonas aeruginosa. An infection with this bacterium causes pneumonia, which leads to death in up to 50% of ventilated patients. How the germ overcomes the lung’s protective layer and destroys the underlying tissue was previously unclear. Now, researchers at the University of Basel have used a detailed human lung model to decipher the underlying mechanisms [].”
“The mini-lungs used in the study allow for the investigation of the infection directly in human cells. This is a significant advantage over so-called animal models, in which lung cells differ substantially from those of humans. With the lung model, various antibiotics can be tested to observe how the bacteria respond to treatment and where they might persist protected from antibiotics. Moreover, patient-specific cells can be used in these animal-free models, allowing individual differences between patients to be taken into account.” 📰 Full Story →
Robots Run the Lab, Biologists Design the Experiments
Brian Buntz, 8/30/2024
“The biotech startup [Parallel Bio] is betting on automation and organoid technology to make experiments faster, more efficient, and more reliable, freeing up scientists to ponder big experimental design questions.”
“By combining its immune organoid technology, robotic automation, and a service-based business model, Parallel Bio aims to deliver faster results, lower costs, and higher quality data compared to traditional animal models.” 📰 Full Story →