Developments in human medicine, science, and technology are all possible without the use of animals. From cell-cultured organoids and 3D printing with human cells, to biomechanical engineering and sophisticated computer models, there are many scientific methods that can be used instead of cruel, outdated and unreliable animal experiments. ¹

The development of alternative and animal-free methods are growing but we still have a long way to go before animals are free from suffering in the name of science. Where there are gaps, we see opportunities to create scientific methods that not only yield reliable results but also don't harm anyone!

Learn more about some of the many animal-free research, testing and teaching methods currently available below!

Examples of Human-based Research and Testing Methods

Human-based research will always be the most reliable when trying to find treatments and cures for human disease.

This does not mean conducting harmful and risky tests on humans instead of animals — we would never promote such methods!

Human-based research methods involve a broad range of biotechnologies that are human-relevant. They use advanced and current biological knowledge of the human species to study human diseases and develop drugs which are safe and effective in humans.

Organ-Chips

Organ chips are microfluidic devices that contain a network of interconnected reservoirs. These can also mimic the organ systems of a living being. Researchers can place lung, liver, fat, gastric or heart cells inside the reservoirs, add a test drug and quickly evaluate how the chemical is distributed, metabolised and excreted.²

For example, Harvard University’s Wyss Institute developed lung-on-a-chip, which can mimic the complicated mechanical and biochemical behaviours of a human lung.³

There are continuous developments with this technology. In fact, the global organ-on-a-chip market has a projected annual growth rate of 36.54%, likely to surpass one billion NZD in global revenue by 2030^.4

An additional benefit: It’s estimated that the use of organ-on-a-chip technology could result in a decrease of up to 26% in the cost of research and development for a new drug.⁵

SHOULD WE KEEP THIS?
Watch the short video from Wyss Institute below for a quick intro to organs-on-chips:

Scanning Technologies

Scanning technologies refer to a set of methods and devices used to capture and digitize information from physical objects or environments and convert it into digital data.

There is a wide range of scanning technologies that can reveal processes in living humans. MRI (magnet resonance imaging) is one you may have experienced yourself. The images produced from scanning technologies are now truly remarkable and are especially useful in neurodegenerative conditions like Alzheimer's.⁶ It is even possible to detect minimal shifts in the chemical balance of brain regions through non-invasive magnet resonance spectroscopy(MRS).⁷

Micro-Dosing

Microdosing involves giving a minuscule amount of a substance to a volunteer or patient. Researchers can use this method to do a variety of things, for example track the movement of the drug through the body and quantify the concentration of the test drug in blood, urine, saliva and white blood cells.⁸

This technique has already been used successfully to test drugs for cancer,⁸ antibiotics,⁹ pain,¹⁰ and Alzheimer's disease.¹¹

Human-derived Raw Material

Ethically sourced human organs and tissue can be used in experiments. These can obtained from a variety of sources - from donated human cadavers or from patients who have undergone operations or biopsies.¹² These can be utilised in research in a variety of ways, for example, to increase knowledge about transplantation and therefore increase success rates.

Researchers can also use so called “rapid autopsy programs” to obtain important information on disease processes such as brain immunity,¹³ cancer growth,¹⁴ HIV progression¹⁵ and many more.¹⁶

Artificial Human Tissues and Organoids

Human tissues or organ systems can also be recreated in laboratories. For example, Human lymph nodes have been created in the laboratory to test vaccines and biologically based drugs.¹⁷

^‍Organoids are 3D structures made up of stem cells that can mimic the functions, structure, and biological complexity of human organs.

Reconstituted human skin models can be used instead of outdated animal tests like the Draize test. For example, EpiSkin and XCellR8 have both developed in vitro human skin and epithelial models. Mat Tek has also created a wide variety of human tissue models.

Artificial organs can be manufactured using cutting-edge techniques like 3D printing with patient-derived cells (known as bioprinting)¹⁸ or by cultivating human cells in a controlled environment to form working heart tissue and blood vessels. These technologies are already used to create organ-chips modelling heart disease,¹⁹ and they can eventually lead to growing “mini-organs”, paving the way towards a viable solution to the shortage of organ transplants.

Epidemiology

Epidemiology involves the study of significant numbers of people over a period of years, comparing their lifestyles, genes, medical interventions, environments, social status, etc. It remains a powerful tool with huge potential and has already produced enormously valuable findings, including the link between smoking and lung cancer^20,21 or diet and Type 2 diabetes.²²

Computer Modelling

Sophisticated computer programs can simulate humans - from individual organs to the whole body.

These models can help provide information about chemicals and their effects on human health. Automated decisions trees can be built using knowledge of hundreds of chemicals and predict how likely it is that a new chemical will cause a certain kind of effect.

For example, by developing a large database of known chemicals and mapping the relationships between chemical structures and toxic properties, researchers were able to automatically predict the toxic properties of chemical compounds, more accurately than an animal test could.

Developments in artificial intelligence (AI) are also creating exciting opportunities for human-based testing.

For example, researchers from IBM are developing a new artificial intelligence model for testing novel drugs and other substances rather than using animals! This AI model was trained using data from about 50,000 molecules. That molecular data was uploaded to the computer-based model, allowing it to recognize the difference between toxic and non-toxic structures.

A recent promising approach to personalised medicine is the so called “digital twin”, already in use in many fields of technology through smart sensors. Using real data, virtual replicas of real human patients are created, through which clinicians can gain valuable insights, optimize treatment strategies, and deliver personalised care.²³

Examples of these new applications include tumour control,²⁴ brain physiology,²⁵ a maternal and foetal digital twin system,²⁶ heart arrhythmia prediction,²⁷ and many more.²³

The University of Auckland advances this field of research in their Computational and Experimental Physiology Group.

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Some of the many institute's advancing and developing human-relevant research and test methods:

• BioMed21
• Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine
• The International Foundation for Ethical Research
• Animal Free Research UK
• The PETA Science Consortium International e.V.
• The Alternatives Research & Development Foundation
• AnaBios
• Read about XCellR8’s many regulatory safety tests that are entirely animal and animal-product free.

You can find many more examples in the Norecopa list of institutes dedicated to developing, validating and implementing non-animal based methods.

Check out the Database of Validated & Accepted Alternative Methods (and others) for measuring oral toxicity, inhalation toxicity, ecotoxicity carcinogenicity, reproductive and developmental toxicity, eye and skin sensitisation and damage, vaccine potency and more.

For some of our favourite examples, find our Bright Future Report [here].

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add in from Animals Used for Teaching:

• Alternatives to Animal Dissection
• Training Medical and Vet Students

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