#Even the “best animal testing” is still fairly off due to the sheer biological differences

[plethoraworldatlas]

The innovation of a 3D-printed device from the University of Edinburgh could pave the way to the abolition of animal testing. The plastic “body-on-chip” device contains human cells from five major organs — the brain, heart, lungs, kidneys, and liver — and simulates chemicals moving through the circulatory system by using positron emission tomography (PET) scanning. “This device is the first to be designed specifically for measuring drug distribution … essentially, allowing us to see where a new drug goes in the body and how long it stays there, without having to use a human or animal to test it,” Liam Carr, inventor of the device, told The Guardian. Future models could also show how organs in different stages of disease react to medicine — as well as how everyday items like foods, aerosols, and cleaners affect the human body — improving precision in biomedical experiments. This device is an example of innovation in biomedical models that could replace animal testing. It could also be cheaper and faster than testing new drugs on live animals. “This device shows really strong potential to reduce the large number of animals that are used worldwide for testing drugs and other compounds, particularly in the early stages, where only 2% of compounds progress through the discovery pipeline,” said Dr. Adriana Tavares of the University’s Centre for Cardiovascular Science according to WION News.

#ecology #enviromentalism #science #animal testing #experimentation #Remember reading about early versions of this tech years ago #Always fascinated me #But I ended up seeing a bunch of people rally against it for the dumbest reasons #I'm sorry I thought the point was to try and get research data and results that can eventually help people #Even the “best animal testing” is still fairly off due to the sheer biological differences #This can help save time and resources AND yield more useful results AND at the very least massively reduces animal testing #But some people decided the scientists who've spend years on this were “attacking scientific traditions” or were “ARAs GONE MAD” #First off “Grand scientific traditions”???? #Second way to either admit you have no relevant knowledge or straight up ignore all the many valid criticisms of animal testing #What were they rallying against? Better testing with less waste? More usable data faster? #The potential reduction in animal testing? (They were mostly mad about that)