Publications: Rebutting Animal Experimentation
TITLE: Evaluating the peripheral nervous system pathology of Alzheimer’s disease utilizing a functional human neuromuscular junction microphysiological system
SUMMARY: This study looked at why people with Alzheimer’s disease can experience physical problems such as muscle weakness and difficulty walking, sometimes even before noticeable memory loss develops. Rather than using animals, the researchers created a human “neuromuscular junction-on-a-chip” model. They used stem cells from people with genetic forms of Alzheimer’s disease to grow motor neurons, which they connected with healthy human muscle cells. This allowed them to study the neuromuscular junction, the “bridge” where nerves communicate with muscles and tell them to move. The researchers found that the Alzheimer’s-associated motor neurons behaved abnormally, with some being overactive and others underactive. As a result, their connections with the muscles were weaker and less reliable, and the muscles became fatigued more quickly than those connected to healthy motor neurons. Existing Alzheimer’s medications tested in the model did not significantly improve these problems, suggesting that different treatments may be needed to target the disease’s effects on the peripheral nervous system.
AUTHORS: Akhmetzada Kargazhanov, Romy Aiken, Kenneth Hawkins, Rafael Lopez, Ahmad Nawaz, Gaurav Srivastava, Chase Miller, Will Bogen, Christopher Long, David Morgan, Xiufang Guo, and James Hickman
PUBLICATION: Alzheimer’s & Dementia
YEAR: 2026
TITLE: Redefining the gold standard and recommendations to accelerate the adoption of New Approach Methodologies (NAMs) in support of the Three Rs
SUMMARY: This review demonstrates that the long-standing assumption of animal testing as the “gold standard” in biomedical research should be reconsidered. The authors propose that researchers should begin with a clearly defined scientific question and select the most appropriate methods to answer it, rather than attempting to reproduce animal studies. They introduce a new definition of the gold standard based on obtaining meaningful, scientifically relevant answers without the use of animals or animal-derived materials, and present ten recommendations to accelerate the acceptance and adoption of New Approach Methodologies (NAMs), including better defining research questions, developing fit-for-purpose methods, strengthening confidence in NAMs, fostering collaboration, enhancing education, supporting regulatory reform, and increasing targeted investment.
AUTHORS: Judith C. Madden, Steven J. Enoch, Alicia Paini, and Mark T.D. Cronin
PUBLICATION: Alternatives to Laboratory Animals
YEAR: 2026
TITLE: Physiologically based pharmacokinetic virtual twin approach for fludarabine dosing in pediatric hematopoietic stem cell transplantation
SUMMARY: This study shows that advanced computer modelling can be used to create a ‘virtual twin’ of a patient, allowing researchers and clinicians to accurately predict how a drug will behave in that individual’s body. Using physiologically based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) modelling in children undergoing stem cell transplants, the researchers found the approach could reliably forecast drug levels and support more precise, individualised dosing instead of relying on standard estimates.
AUTHORS: Mourad Mseddi, Christa Nath, Khalil B Hassine, Vid Mlakar, Yvonne Gloor, Fanny Gonzales, Chakradhara Rao S Uppugunduri, Youssef Daali, Steven Keogh, Marc Ansari
PUBLICATION: CPT Pharmacometrics & Systems Pharmacology
YEAR: 2026
TITLE: Patient-derived brain organoids reveal divergent neuronal activity across subpopulations of autism spectrum disorder
SUMMARY: This study used patient-derived brain organoids to investigate autism. Researchers found that brain cells from different individuals with autism showed distinct patterns of neuronal activity, suggesting that autism is not a single condition but includes biologically different subtypes. Importantly, these human-based models revealed differences in how brain cells function and communicate that would be difficult to capture in traditional animal models.
AUTHORS: Nisim Perets, Liya Kerem, Nir Waiskopf, Noa Horesh, Itay Goldman, Jasmine Avichzer, Doron Bril, William Tobelaim, Milcah Barashi, Liat David, Ariel Tenenbaum
PUBLICATION: Translational Psychiatry
YEAR: 2026
TITLE: Set up of a human 3D liver multicellular model for chemical high-throughput toxic hazard assessment
SUMMARY: Scientists have built an advanced 3D human liver model made of several human liver cell types to better study how chemicals affect the human liver. Unlike traditional flat (2D) cell cultures or animal tests, this 3D ‘mini-liver’ more closely mimics how a real human liver works, including responses like toxicity, stress, inflammation and damage. Researchers use this model to detect whether chemicals might be harmful to the liver and to understand how they cause damage, in a human-relevant, animal-free system.
AUTHORS: Cynthia Recoules, Marc Audebert
PUBLICATION: NAM Journal
YEAR: 2026
TITLE: A 3D naive biological model for high-throughput live-cell analysis of mitochondrial oxygen consumption in response to photobiomodulation treatment
SUMMARY: This study developed a new 3D human cell model to better study how light-based therapies affect cells. Instead of using traditional flat (2D) cell cultures or animal-derived materials, the researchers used human stem cells grown in a 3D environment that more closely mimics real human tissue. The model allows scientists to measure how cells produce energy (by tracking oxygen use in mitochondria) in response to photobiomodulation (a type of low-level light therapy). The researchers found that cell responses varied depending on the light dose and timing, highlighting why past studies may have produced inconsistent results.
AUTHORS: Simone Sleep, Jennifer Gunter, Deanne H Hryciw, Roy George
PUBLICATION: Lasers in Dental Science
YEAR: 2025
LINK: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s41547-025-00296-y
TITLE: Advancing next-generation brain organoid platforms for investigating traumatic brain injury from repeated blast exposures
SUMMARY: This review explores how human brain organoids—miniature, three-dimensional brain models grown from human stem cells—can be used to study traumatic brain injury caused by repeated blast exposure, such as that experienced by military and law enforcement personnel. These human-relevant models may provide a more accurate way to understand how blast waves damage the brain and to test potential treatments, compared with traditional animal models. The authors also highlight new technologies that could make these organoid systems more realistic and scalable for future research.
AUTHORS: Eyal Bar-Kochba, Catherine M. Carneal, Vanessa D. Alphonse, Andrea C. Timm, Amanda W. Ernlund, Carissa L. Rodriguez, Itzy E. Morales Pantoja, Lena Smirnova, Thomas Hartung, Andrew C. Merkle
PUBLICATION: Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology
YEAR: 2025
TITLE: Design and Synthesis of a Novel in Chemico Reactivity Probe N,N-dimethyl N-(2-(1-naphthyl)acetyl)-l-cysteine (NNDNAC) for Rapid Skin Sensitization Assessment of Cosmetic Ingredients
SUMMARY: Scientists developed a new animal-free chemical test to quickly check whether ingredients used in cosmetics might cause skin allergies. Traditional lab tests can take a long time (often a full day) and sometimes can’t clearly tell whether a substance is directly reactive or only becomes reactive after chemical changes. The researchers designed a new molecule called NNDNAC that reacts with potentially allergenic chemicals much faster—often within an hour—and gives clearer results about how those chemicals behave. In tests, NNDNAC successfully spotted known strong irritants in quick reactions and could also distinguish substances that only become reactive later.
AUTHORS: Akanksha Singh, D. G. S. Sudhakar, Ratnadeep Paul Choudhury
PUBLICATION: Cosmetics
YEAR: 2025
TITLE: Machine learning-enabled detection of electrophysiological signatures in iPSC-derived models of schizophrenia and biopolar disorder
SUMMARY: This study shows that human cell–based “mini‑brain” models plus machine learning can distinguish schizophrenia and bipolar disorder from healthy controls, offering a non‑animal route to objective brain biomarkers. The authors explicitly note that animal models are only rough analogues of these disorders and cannot capture human‑specific genetic and network features, whereas these patient‑derived human models better capture human‑specific genetics and network changes, enabling biomarker discovery and drug screening without using animals.
AUTHORS: Kai Cheng, Autumn Williams, Anannya Kshirsagar, Sai Kulkarni, Rakesh Karmacharya, Deok-Ho Kim, Sridevi V. Sarma & Annie Kathuria
PUBLICATION: APL Bioengineering
YEAR: 2025
TITLE: Development and optimization of decellularized seaweed scaffolds for tissue engineering
SUMMARY: This study developed and optimised a novel approach using decellularized seaweed scaffolds as a sustainable, biocompatible platform for tissue engineering, specifically supporting human cardiomyocyte growth and proliferation in vitro. By removing cellular components from seaweed while preserving its structural fibers, the researchers created a natural scaffold that promotes cell attachment and multiplication without relying on animal-derived materials or animal testing.
AUTHORS: Gobinath Chithiravelu, Marion J. Jones, Ivana Hernandez de Estrada, Yadvendra Singh, Harish Subbaraman & Binata Joddar
PUBLICATION: Biointerphases
YEAR: 2025
TITLE: A human immuno-lung organoid model to study macrophage-mediated lung cell senescence upon SARS-CoV-2 infection
SUMMARY: COVID-19 mainly affects the lungs, but studying how the virus causes damage in humans is challenging. This study used human lung organoids—lab-grown mini-lungs made from stem cells—combined with immune cells called macrophages to model infection. Researchers discovered that proinflammatory macrophages trigger lung cell aging (senescence) through a specific molecular pathway, which contributes to tissue damage. By using human organoids instead of animals, the study was able to replicate key disease processes and uncover new insights into how COVID-19 harms lung tissue.
AUTHORS: Yuling Han, Dongliang Leng, Tuo Zhang, Jian Ge, Yinshan Fang, Tiankun Lu, Xue Dong,Manoj S Nair, Neranjan de Silva, Zhaowei Han, Tiancheng Jiao, Yuanhao Huang,Meiqi Zhao, Anjali Saqi, Hanina Hibshoosh, Zihe Meng, Jenny Z Xiang, Chendong Pan, Yanjie Sun, David D. Ho, Todd Evans, Jie Liu, Liuliu Yang, Jianwen Que & Shuibing Chen
PUBLICATION: Advanced Science
YEAR: 2025
TITLE: Non-animal technologies to study and target the tumour vasculature and angiogenesis
SUMMARY: New non-animal technologies are helping researchers better understand and treat cancer by focusing on blood vessel growth (angiogenesis), which fuels tumour progression. Traditional mouse models are costly, slow and fail to capture the full complexity of human cancers. In contrast, human-based models—ranging from simple cell cultures to advanced 3D systems, patient-derived samples, engineered microvasculature and computer simulations—offer more accurate and ethical ways to study tumour blood vessels. These methods can improve drug development, identify new treatment targets and support personalised cancer therapies, while also reducing reliance on animals.
AUTHORS: Elisabetta Ferrero, Jonas Hue, Marina Ferrarini & Lorenzo Veschini
PUBLICATION: Organoids
YEAR: 2025
TITLE: Modeling human immune responses to vaccination in vitro
SUMMARY: The human immune system is a complex network of coordinated components that are crucial for health and disease. Animal models, commonly used to study immunomodulatory agents, are limited by species-specific differences, low throughput, and ethical concerns. In contrast, in vitro modeling of human immune responses can enable species- and population-specific mechanistic studies and translational development within the same study participant. Translational accuracy of in vitro models is enhanced by accounting for genetic, epigenetic, and demographic features such as age, sex, and comorbidity. This review explores various human in vitro immune models, considers evidence that they may resemble human in vivo responses, and assesses their potential to accelerate and de-risk vaccine discovery and development.
AUTHORS: Elena Morrocchi, Simon van Haren, Paolo Palma, Ofer Levy
PUBLICATION: Trends in Immunology
YEAR: 2024
LINK: www.cell.com/trends/immunology/fulltext/S1471-4906(23)00256-9#secst5005
TITLE: Human disease models in drug development
SUMMARY: This review highlights a shift in biomedical research towards human disease models due to the frequent failures in drug development. It points out the limitations of animal models, which, while widely used, often fail to accurately predict human responses. To address this gap, researchers are developing bioengineered human disease models that closely mimic clinical conditions. The review discusses the use of these models in preclinical and clinical studies, particularly focusing on organoids, bioengineered tissue models, and organs-on-chips.
AUTHORS: Anna Loewa, James J. Feng & Sarah Hedtrich
PUBLICATION: Nature Reviews Bioengineering
YEAR: 2023
TITLE: Understanding traumatic brain injuries in military personnel: Investigating the dynamic interplay of the cerebrospinal fluid and brain during blasts
SUMMARY: Incidents of TBI among military personnel may arise during or after their service. Due to ethical concerns surrounding animal experimentation, researchers have sought alternative methods for studying TBIs. Computational simulations are increasingly used to study the pathophysiology of traumatic brain injuries among US military personnel. This approach allows for investigation without ethical concerns surrounding live subject testing.
AUTHORS: Frankini E, Basile E J, Syed F et al
PUBLICATION: Cureus
YEAR: 2023
TITLE: The future of Parkinson’s disease research: A new paradigm of human specific investigation is necessary… and possible
SUMMARY: To date, approaches to drug discovery for PD have resulted in symptomatic therapies for the motor manifestations and signs associated with neurodegeneration but have failed to identify preventive or curative therapies. This failure mainly originates from the persistence of major gaps in our understanding of the specific molecular basis of PD initiation and progression. New approach methodologies (NAMs) hold the potential to advance PD research while facilitating a move away from animal- based research. This publication reports a workshop involving NAM experts in the field of PD and neurodegenerative diseases, who discussed and identified a scientific strategy for successful, human-specific PD research.
AUTHORS: M Cassotta et al
PUBLICATION: ALTEX
YEAR: 2022
LINK: https://www.altex.org/index.php/altex/article/view/2450/version/2512
TITLE: The role of systematic reviews in identifying the limitations of preclinical animal research, 2000 – 2022
SUMMARY: Evidence from systematic reviews
AUTHORS: Ritskes-Hoitinga M, Pound P
PUBLICATION: JLL Bulletin
YEAR: 2022
TITLE: Biofidelic dynamic compression of human cortical spheroids reproduces neurotrauma phenotypes
SUMMARY: Scientists have created a 3D lab model of a human brain, using it to better understand and study traumatic brain injuries. By simulating injury, they found the model showed signs of damage similar to a real brain, which could help them develop future treatments.
AUTHORS: A Shoemaker
PUBLICATION: Disease Models & Mechanisms
YEAR: 2021
LINK: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0269881116689260
TITLE: The educational efficacy of humane teaching methods: A systematic review of the evidence
SUMMARY: Harmful animal use persists in education despite the availability of humane teaching methods, which have legal, ethical, and economic benefits and have been shown to be equally or more effective in improving student knowledge and skills. A systematic review of 50 studies revealed that in 90% of cases, humane teaching methods were as effective or even more effective than harmful animal use, suggesting there is no valid educational reason to continue using animals in this context.
AUTHORS: Miriam A Zemanova & Andrew Knight
PUBLICATION: Animals
YEAR: 2021
TITLE: What’s not in the news headlines or titles of Alzheimer disease articles? #InMice
SUMMARY: There are currently no medicines that can really help stop or slow down Alzheimer’s disease (AD). The drugs that are available only treat some of the symptoms in a few patients, and there have been many failed attempts to find new treatments, mostly because the tests on animals didn’t work well for predicting what would happen in people. This has cost an enormous amount of money, and success in developing new drugs for most diseases is very low.
AUTHORS: Marcia Triunfol and Fabio C. Gouveia
PUBLICATION: Plos Biology
YEAR: 2021
LINK: https://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article?id=10.1371/journal.pbio.3001260
TITLE: Are researchers moving away from animal models as a result of poor clinical translation in the field of stroke? An analysis of opinion papers
SUMMARY: Despite decades of research using animals to develop pharmaceutical treatments for patients who have had a stroke, few therapeutic options exist. The vast majority of interventions successful in preclinical animal studies have turned out to have no efficacy in humans or to be harmful to humans. In view of this, we explore whether there is evidence of a move away from animal models in this field.
AUTHORS: Pandora Pound & Rebecca Ram
PUBLICATION: British Medical Journal
YEAR: 2020
TITLE: Ethical and welfare implications of genetically altered non-human primates for biomedical research
SUMMARY: Breakthroughs in gene editing technologies have made it feasible to create genetically altered (GA) non-human primate (NHP) models of disease. This area of research is accelerating, particularly in China, Japan and the USA, and could lead to an increase in NHP use globally. The hope is that genetic models in animal species closely related to humans will significantly improve understanding of neurological diseases and validation of potential therapeutic interventions, for which there is a dire need. However, the creation and use of GA NHPs raises serious animal welfare and ethical issues, which are highlighted in this publication.
AUTHORS: Mark J. Prescott
PUBLICATION: Journal of Applied Animal Ethics Research
YEAR: 2020
TITLE: From mice to monkeys? Beyond orthodox approaches to the ethics of animal model choice
SUMMARY: New genome-editing tools enable increased use of larger mammals like primates, pigs, and dogs in biomedical research. This paper explores ethical concerns about this shift, comparing scientific guidelines and philosophical perspectives on animal use and emphasizing the importance of addressing ethical questions alongside scientific considerations in biomedical research.
AUTHORS: Rebecca L. Walker & Matthias Eggel
PUBLICATION: Animals
YEAR: 2020
TITLE: Is it time for reviewer 3 to request human organ chip experiments instead of animal validation studies?
SUMMARY: Animal studies have been used to validate in vitro research results in scientific articles and grant applications. However, recent advancements in human organ-on-a-chip technology have demonstrated their ability to mimic human physiology, disease states, and drug responses more accurately than animal models. This raises questions about the continued need for animal testing in research and its ethical implications, with this article discussing the advantages and disadvantages of organ-on-a-chip models compared to animal models for the scientific community to consider.
AUTHORS: Donald E Ingber
PUBLICATION: Advanced Science
YEAR: 2020
LINK: https://advanced.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/advs.202002030
TITLE: Need for NAMs: A systematic evidence synthesis revealing over half a century of drug development failure
SUMMARY: This study brought together and analysed more than 60 years of published research to understand how often new drugs fail during clinical trials and why. The authors found that around 91% of drug candidates entering Phase I clinical trials ultimately fail to receive marketing approval. Approximately 77% of these failures were attributed to biological reasons, including insufficient efficacy, safety concerns and problems with how drugs move through and are processed by the body. These are outcomes that preclinical testing, which has traditionally relied heavily on animal models, is intended to help predict before a drug reaches human trials. The findings therefore highlight an ongoing gap between preclinical evidence and human outcomes. The authors argue for greater integration of human-relevant Non-Animal Methods (NAMs), including organoids, organs-on-chips and computational models, to improve preclinical drug assessment and help identify ineffective or unsafe drug candidates earlier.
AUTHORS: Dilyana Filipova , Wolfgang Boomgaarden, Leyla Fox, Andrew Knight, Bettina Lickiss, Christian Maass, Gaby Neumann, Justine Watkins, Kathrin Herrmann, Lorna Ewart, Matthias Gossmann, Merel Ritskes Hoitinga, Tamara Zietek.
PUBLICATION: NAM Journal
Year: 2026
LINK: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.namjnl.2026.100119
TITLE: Wireless and contactless biomechanic well plate for monitoring cardiac organoid and 3D-tissue contraction
SUMMARY: This study introduces the Biomechanical Well Plate (BWP), a wireless system designed to monitor the mechanical activity of lab-grown human heart tissues without physical contact. Inspired by lateral line system of fish, or put simply, how fish “feel” vibrations in water, the device uses air pressure to move a microscopic mechanical “hair” every time the heart beats. Because the sensor is completely contactless, it doesn’t get dirty from biological fluids, meaning it can be reused over and over again—a major improvement over older sensors that would break or get contaminated. This technology allows scientists to test new heart medicines on real human tissue more accurately and easily. By enabling continuous, high-throughput monitoring inside sterile incubators, this method offers a robust, human-centric framework for drug testing and disease research that can significantly reduce reliance on animal models.
AUTHORS: Chi Cong Nguyen, Jordan Thorpe, Tran Bach Dang, Azadeh Zahabi, Quang Anh Nguyen, Sinuo Zhao, Nhat Minh Doan, Michael A. Listyawan, Hongru Chen, Thanh Vinh Nguyen, Syamak Farajikhah, Ann-Na Cho, Nigel H. Lovell, Thanh Nho Do, Timothée Mouterde, Adam P. Hill, and Hoang-Phuong Phan
PUBLICATION: Nature Sensors
YEAR: 2026
TITLE: Towards learning and memory risk assessment with human brain organoids: barriers and opportunities
SUMMARY: Scientists use 3D human brain organoids to study how environmental toxins like lead and mercury impair learning and memory. By integrating these “mini-brains” with AI, organoid intelligence tracks how neural networks process information. Despite offering human-relevant alternatives to animal testing, four barriers hinder regulatory use: limited maturity resembling fetal tissue, lack of standardized testing procedures, inconsistent results across labs, and difficulties translating lab data into human health risks. Resolving these hurdles will improve public health assessments while reducing reliance on animal studies
AUTHORS: Ronit Mohapatra, Dowlette-MaryAlam El Din, Hanyu Zhao, Thomas Hartung, Lena Smirnova
PUBLICATION: Frontiers in Toxicology
YEAR: 2026
LINK: doi: 10.3389/ftox.2026.1783893
TITLE: Photocrosslinkable lung dECM hydrogels promote stiffness-dependent lung cancer growth and chemoresistance
SUMMARY: This study developed a more realistic 3D human-based model of lung cancer using biomaterials derived from human lung tissue. The researchers created a gel-like scaffold that mimics the structure and stiffness of real lung tissue, allowing cancer cells to grow in a way that more closely reflects what happens in the human body. They found that the stiffness of the surrounding tissue strongly influenced cancer behaviour. In stiffer environments—similar to diseased or fibrotic lungs—cancer cells formed dense clusters and became more resistant to chemotherapy drugs. In softer environments, cells behaved differently and were more responsive to treatment. Importantly, commonly used lab models failed to capture these effects, highlighting why some cancer research results don’t translate well to patients.
AUTHORS: Luke Hipwood, Minne Dekker, Dietmar W Hutmacher, Christoph Meinert, Jacqui A McGovern
PUBLICATION: Materials Today Bio
YEAR: 2026
LINK: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590006426000815?via%3Dihub External Link
TITLE: Patient-derived epithelial cell organoids mimic the phenotypic complexity of endometriosis subtypes
SUMMARY: This study developed organoids from people with endometriosis to better understand the disease. Researchers successfully grew these models from different types of endometriosis and found that they retain key features of each subtype, including differences in structure and hormone responses. The findings show that patient-derived organoids can reflect the complexity of the condition more accurately than traditional models.
AUTHORS: K Gunther, D Liu, M Cortesi, E Powell, E Nesbitt-Hawes, J A Abbott, C E Ford
PUBLICATION: Human Reproduction
YEAR: 2026
TITLE: Modeling human embryo implantation in vitro
SUMMARY: Scientists have created an advanced human tissue model that replicates the lining of the womb (the endometrium) in the lab. This 3D system closely mimics the structure and hormone responses of real uterine tissue. When early-stage human embryos (from IVF donations) were placed on this model, they attached and began processes similar to early pregnancy implantation. This lets researchers watch the very first stages of how an embryo interacts with the womb’s lining—something that’s hard to study in people and hard to replicate in animals.
AUTHORS: Matteo A. Molè, Sarah Elderkin, Irene Zorzan, et al.
PUBLICATION: Cell
YEAR: 2026
LINK: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2025.10.027 External Link
TITLE: Autologous human iPSC–derived alveolus-on-chip reveals early pathological events of Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection
SUMMARY: Researchers have created a human lung-on-a-chip model using stem cells from a single person to mimic the tiny air sacs (alveoli) in our lungs—where oxygen enters the blood and where infections like tuberculosis (TB) first take hold. Instead of using animals, the team grew human lung cells, blood vessel cells and immune cells together in a tiny device that simulates breathing and the lung’s air-liquid surface. When they exposed this lung-on-a-chip to Mycobacterium tuberculosis (the bacterium that causes TB), they saw how the lung’s cells and immune cells responded in the very earliest stages of infection, including macrophages becoming infected and clusters of dying immune cells forming—patterns that are important for understanding how TB progresses.
AUTHORS: Chak Hon Luk, Gabriel L. Conway, Kim Jee Goh, Antony Fearns, Irene Rodriguez Hernandez, Nathan J. Day, Natalia Athanasiadi, Rocco D’Antuono, Enrica Pellegrino, Janick D. Stucki, Nina Hobi, Maximiliano G. Gutierrez
PUBLICATION: Science Advances
YEAR: 2026
TITLE: Preclinical assessment of pan-influenza A virus CRISPR RNA therapeutics in a human lung alveolus chip
SUMMARY: This study tested a new CRISPR-based antiviral therapy for influenza using a human lung organ-on-a-chip model, which mimics key features of human lung tissue. The researchers found that the CRISPR system could significantly reduce influenza virus levels in infected lung cells when delivered through the chip model. The study demonstrates how human-relevant organ-chip technologies can be used to evaluate new treatments and may provide a more predictive alternative to animal models for studying respiratory diseases and therapies.
AUTHORS: Yuncheng Man, Ryan R. Posey, Haiqing Bai, Amanda Jiang, Pere Dosta, Diana Ocampo-Alvarado, Roberto Plebani, Jie Ji, Chaitra Belgur, Natalie Artzi, Donald E. Ingber
PUBLICATION: Lab on a Chip
YEAR: 2025
TITLE: Vincristine treatment protects against podocyte damage in focal segmental glomerulosclerosis
SUMMARY: This study shows that the drug vincristine shields human podocytes—the kidney’s filtering cells—from damage sparked by blood serum from folks with focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS), a condition causing heavy protein leakage into urine. Using lab-grown podocytes and serum from a key patient before, during, and after vincristine treatment, plus samples from three other FSGS patients, researchers found that disease serum messes up the cells’ internal scaffolding (tubulin and F-actin), boosting albumin leakage in a mini-kidney chip model—but vincristine fixes this without needing animal tests.
AUTHORS: William J. Mason, Jennifer C. Chandler, Alice M. Gage, Gideon Pomeranz, Karen L. Price, Marilina Antonelou, Scott R. Henderson, Laura Perin, Stefano Da Sacco, Alan D. Salama, David A. Long & Ruth J. Pepper
PUBLICATION: Kidney International Reports
YEAR: 2025
LINK: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ekir.2025.08.002 External Link
TITLE: Artificial intelligence in preclinical research: enhancing digital twins and organ-on-chip to reduce animal testing
SUMMARY: This article reviews how AI and advanced human-based models (such as digital twins and organ-on-chip systems) are transforming safety testing and drug development without using animals. It highlights several AI tools already being used to predict liver, heart and whole-body responses, along with commercial platforms creating ‘virtual patients’ for early safety testing. Although challenges remain (such as improving data quality, standardising methods and gaining regulatory acceptance), the authors argue that AI combined with cutting-edge human-based models can significantly reduce and eventually replace animal use, while delivering safer and more accurate results for people.
AUTHORS: Amit Gangwal & Antonio Lavecchia
PUBLICATION: Drug Discovery Today
YEAR: 2025
LINK: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.drudis.2025.104360 External Link
TITLE: Integrated omics reveals disease-associated radial glia-like cells with epigenetically dysregulated interferon response in multiple sclerosis
SUMMARY: This study used advanced direct reprogramming of patient skin cells into induced neural stem cells (iNSCs) to model progressive multiple sclerosis (PMS). The researchers preserved the cells’ original epigenetic features, revealing a disease-specific dysregulation of interferon signaling and inflammation in a novel subpopulation of radial glia-like cells. This approach avoided animal models while uncovering key cellular drivers of chronic inflammation and neurodegeneration in PMS, and demonstrated the potential of patient-derived human cells for understanding disease mechanisms and identifying therapeutic targets in a human-relevant context.
AUTHORS: Bongsoo Park, Alexandra M. Nicaise, Dimitrios Tsitsipatis, Liviu Pirvan, Daniel Zucha, Andi Munteanu, Pranathi Prasad, Miguel Larraz Lopez De Novales, Cristian Bulgaru, Rafael Kollyfas, Julia Whitten, Cory M. Willis, Luka Culig, Joseph Llewellyn, Rosana-Bristena Ionescu, Magdy Mekdad, Madalena B.C. Simões-Abade, Grzegorz Krzak, Jinshui Fan, Supriyo De, Matthew O. Ellis, Marta Suarez Cubero, Angeliki Spathopoulou, Luca Peruzzotti-Jametti, Tommaso Leonardi, Gabriel Balmus, Frank Edenhofer, Myriam Gorospe, Lukas Valihrach, Irina Mohorianu, Stefano Pluchino & Isabel Beerman
PUBLICATION: Neuron
YEAR: 2025
TITLE: “Lost in translation?” Animal research in the era of precision medicine
SUMMARY: Animal testing has long been used to assess the safety and effectiveness of new drugs before they are tested in humans. However, this paper questions how reliable animal research is for studying complex human diseases like cancer, and highlights the ethical issues involved. The authors argue that animals have intrinsic value beyond their use in science and that medical research should move toward fully replacing animal experiments with modern, human-relevant methods. They emphasise that replacing animal testing should be the top priority in developing better, more ethical medical research approaches.
AUTHORS: Hamideh Frühwein & Norbert W. Paul
PUBLICATION: Journal of Translational Medicine
YEAR: 2025
TITLE: The (misleading) role of animal models in drug development
SUMMARY: Animals like mice and rats have long been used in medical research to help understand disease and test potential new treatments before human trials. However, while animal studies have contributed to important advances, too much reliance on animal models can also mislead drug development. This article explains for a general audience how animal research is used to develop new medicines, its benefits and limitations, and how more accurate and humane techniques—alternatives to animal testing—could improve this process.
AUTHORS: Thomas Hartung
PUBLICATION: Frontiers
YEAR: 2024
TITLE: How transparent and reproducible are studies that use animal models of opioid addiction?
SUMMARY: This pre-print article examines the reproducibility crisis in psychology, with particular relevance to low translation rates for addition research, through examination of indices of transparency and accurate and thorough reporting in animal models of opioid addiction from 2019 to 2023.
AUTHORS: Justine Blackwell, Julia Beitner, Alex Holcombe
YEAR: 2024
TITLE: Revolutionizing developmental neurotoxicity testing – A journey from animal models to advanced in vitro systems
SUMMARY: Developmental neurotoxicity (DNT) testing predicts the hazard of exposure to chemicals to human brain development. Comprehensive advanced non-animal testing strategies using cutting-edge technology can now replace animal-based approaches to assess this complex hazard. These strategies can assess large numbers of chemicals more accurately and efficiently than the animal-based approach. Recent OECD test guidance has formalized this battery of in vitro test methods for DNT, marking a pivotal achievement in the field.
AUTHORS: Lena Smirnova, Helena T. Hogberg, Marcel Leist, Thomas Hartung
PUBLICATION: ALTEX
YEAR: 2024
TITLE: Poor translatability of biomedical research using animals — A narrative review
SUMMARY: The translation of drugs from animal testing to human treatments has a high failure rate of over 92%, primarily due to unexpected safety issues and lack of efficacy revealed in human trials but not in animal tests. Innovative tools like organs-on-chips show promise in predicting safety events before clinical trials and assessing drug efficacy. This review discusses various disease areas where animal models have failed to provide effective treatments and suggests how these more human-relevant approaches can be applied to address this issue.
AUTHORS: L Marshall et al
PUBLICATION: Alternatives to Laboratory Animals
YEAR: 2023
LINK: www.altex.org/index.php/altex/article/view/2450/version/2512
TITLE: Animal-derived products in science and current alternatives
SUMMARY: Animals continue to be widely used in basic research. Their use comprises not only in vivo experiments with animal models, but also the production of a variety of supplements and products of animal origin for cell and tissue culture, cell-based assays, and therapeutics. The animal-derived products most used in basic research are fetal bovine serum (FBS), extracellular matrix proteins such as Matrigel™, and antibodies. However, their production raises several ethical issues regarding animal welfare. Additionally, their biological origin is associated with a high risk of contamination, resulting, frequently, in poor scientific data for clinical translation.
AUTHORS: Anna C Duarte et al
PUBLICATION: Biomaterials Advances
YEAR: 2023
LINK: www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2772950823001516?via%3Dihub
TITLE: The use of simulators for teaching practical clinical skills to veterinary students – A review
SUMMARY: This review examines the available literature regarding the use of simulation and simulators for teaching practical day one competences to veterinary students. Scientific databases were searched and 73 relevant articles were reviewed.
AUTHORS: Helen R Braid
PUBLICATION: Alternatives to Laboratory Animals
YEAR: 2022
LINK: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/02611929221098138
TITLE: A framework for establishing scientific confidence in new approach methodologies
SUMMARY: This paper underscores the importance of establishing reliable and efficient processes to instill trust in New Approach Methodologies (NAMs) for potential regulatory use in assessing human health effects. It stresses that NAMs should be appropriate for their intended purpose, dependable, and reflective of human biology. The key factors include independent evaluation and transparent communication among NAM developers, regulators, and industry stakeholders. Rather than simply comparing NAM results to traditional animal tests, the focus should be on their biological relevance, mechanistic understanding, and their capacity to guide health-protective decisions. The paper introduces a framework comprising five crucial elements: fitness for purpose, human biological relevance, technical characterization, data integrity and transparency, and independent review. Implementing this framework on a global scale would expedite the development and adoption of NAMs, not only for pesticides and industrial chemicals but also for various other types of chemicals and ecotoxicological assessments.
AUTHORS: Anna J Van der Zalm et al
PUBLICATION: Archives of Toxiciology
YEAR: 2022
TITLE: Modeling brain development and diseases with human cerebral organoids
SUMMARY: This review discusses the importance of understanding human brain development and neurological disorders in neurobiology. It highlights that current knowledge relies heavily on studies in rodents due to limited access to human and non-human primate brain tissues. However, human-specific aspects of neural development cannot be fully explored using animal models. The review emphasizes the role of brain organoids, which have rapidly advanced thanks to stem cell technologies, in decoding human brain development and uncovering brain disease pathology. It covers recent developments in brain organoid technology, discusses its limitations, potential applications, and future prospects.
PUBLICATION: Current Opinion in Neurobiology
YEAR: 2021
LINK: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0959438820301331
TITLE: Replacement strategies for animal studies in inhalation testing
SUMMARY: The lung morphology and physiology of commonly used animal species differs from that of human lungs, and the realistic inhalation exposure of animals is challenging. In vitro and in silico methods can assess important aspects of the in vivo effects, namely particle deposition, dissolution, action at, and permeation through, the respiratory barrier, and pharmacokinetics. This review discusses the limitations of animal models and exposure systems and proposes in vitro and in silico techniques that could, when used together, reduce or even replace animal testing in inhalation testing in the future.
AUTHORS: Eleonore Fröhlich
PUBLICATION: Sci
YEAR: 2021
TITLE: Modeling the human bone-tumor niche: Reducing and replacing the need for animal data
SUMMARY: Understanding the complex interactions in the bone-tumor microenvironment, where cancer often spreads, is vital for developing new treatments. Traditional animal models have been used for this, but alternative systems are emerging that replicate the bone environment, enabling the study of cancer metastasis and tumor growth alongside bone turnover. These alternatives include using synthetic materials, fresh human bone samples, and mathematical modeling, offering non-animal testing options to improve our understanding of the human bone-tumor environment.
AUTHORS: Srinivasa R Rao et al
PUBLICATION: JBMR PLUS
YEAR: 2020
LINK: https://asbmr.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/jbm4.10356
TITLE: Some reasons why preclinical studies of psychiatric disorders fail to translate: What can be rescued from the misunderstanding and misuse of animal ‘models’?
SUMMARY: The failure of animal models in translating findings to humans is a serious issue in preclinical biomedical research, threatening its credibility. This article discusses the need for urgent attention to this problem, particularly in the context of psychiatric disorders like depression, highlighting common flawed assumptions and the importance of interpreting findings realistically and evidence-based to align with research on human psychiatric problems.
AUTHORS: Clare Stanford
PUBLICATION: Alternatives to Laboratory Animals
YEAR: 2020
TITLE: Alzheimer’s disease, and breast and prostate cancer research: Translational failures and the importance to monitor outputs and impact of funded research
SUMMARY: Dementia and cancer are common in Western countries. Scientists have been studying Alzheimer’s disease, breast cancer, and prostate cancer, but animal models used in research may not fully represent human diseases. New tools and interdisciplinary approaches are being used, and it’s important to monitor the impact of biomedical research. This publication discusses some of the issues underlying translational failure to these diseases and describes how indicators could be applied to retrospectively measure outputs and impact of funded biomedical research.
AUTHORS: Francesca Pistollato et al
PUBLICATION: Animals
YEAR: 2020
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