Dr Hadwen Trust believes that 'Organs-on-Chips' could spell the end for animal testing

Dr Hadwen Trust believes that 'Organs-on-Chips' could spell the end for animal testing

Miniature versions of human organs that promise to reduce animal testing won the prestigious Design Museum's top award this week. The 'Organ-on-Chip' devices, which contain living human cells, are designed to mimic lung, kidney, gut, bone marrow and other tissues.

They were developed by scientists at the Wyss Institute at Harvard University and allow researchers to test drugs in conditions close to those found in a human body, at a fraction of the cost of animal studies.

"The Organs-on-Chips allow us to see biological mechanisms and behaviours that no one knew existed before," said Don Ingber, founding director of the Wyss Institute. "We now have a window on the molecular-scale activities going on in human organs, including things that happen in human cells that don't occur in animals. Most drug companies get completely different results in dogs, cats, mice and humans, but now they will be able to test the specific effects of drugs with greater accuracy and speed."

The Dr Hadwen Trust (DHT) is the UK's leading non-animal medical research charity. The DHT's Group Head of Science, Dr Brett Cochrane, said: "We send our warmest congratulations to the team at the Wyss Institute. It is enormously encouraging that their work and the work of many other research scientists is demonstrating that cutting edge research can deliver better results than the outmoded and unhelpful research involving animals. We believe that Organs-on-Chips are an important step in ending animal testing and we wish the Wyss institute every success as they continue to develop, validate and apply their innovative technology."

-END-

NOTES TO EDITOR

1.The Dr Hadwen Trust (DHT) is the UK's leading non-animal medical research charity. Since 1971 the DHT has awarded grants to over 170 non-animal medical research projects including: cancer, Alzheimer's disease, heart and liver disease and diabetes.

2.Over the last 5 years alone the DHT has committed to almost £3.5 million worth of animal replacement research projects across the UK at student, PhD and post-doctoral level.

3.The Dr Hadwen Trust continues to be the UK's leading charity provider of grants solely dedicated to animal replacement medical research.

4.For more information please contact: Dr Brett Cochrane at b.cochrane@drhadwentrust.org or 01462 436819.