Image by mandrakept from Pixabay

There are a number of alternatives to using animal models for medical research. These include human cells and tissue based methods, organs-on-a-chip, 3D models and printing research as well as computer modelling techniques. We are pleased to share an example of work into alternatives with this story of a Ualbany lab growing a complete, miniature heart that can be used to change the way medications are tested.

From Times Union:

LBANY — In a small University of Albany lab, students are growing fully-formed human hearts.

The hearts are miniscule — about half as large as the head of a needle. But they hold the power to revolutionize the way new medications are tested.

Drugs are usually tested on animals first, but the results are wildly inaccurate. When successful drugs are tried on humans, the drugs do not work 92% of the time, researchers have found.

“Animals are different in many ways,” student Maria Paredes-Espinosa said. “Having a model that’s human is already better than having a mouse.”

The lab, in Albany NanoTech at NanoFab East, could start testing new drugs as soon as this fall.

Click here to read the full article.