Key facts
- Miniature human organs, called organoids, will be grown from NHS patients' cells in the UK.
- The goal is to improve drug testing accuracy and significantly reduce the number of animals used in research.
- Organoids can mimic key features of full-scale organs, including disease progression and drug response.
- This approach aims to enable personalized medicine by identifying treatments tailored to individual patient pathologies.
- The initiative is part of a government strategy to fast-track the reduction of animals in research.
- A new research hub in Cambridge will be established with £20m funding from the Medical Research Council.
UK scientists are set to grow miniature human organs and tissues from patients' cells to enhance drug testing and decrease reliance on animal models. This initiative, spearheaded by a new research hub in Cambridge funded by £20 million from the Medical Research Council, aims to provide more accurate and personalized medicine by studying how diseases and treatments vary among individuals.
Organoids, tiny clumps of tissue that can mimic full-scale organ functions and disease pathologies, have been developed for over a decade. Researchers believe these human-tissue models will offer more reliable results than animal testing, where historically over 90% of drugs that pass animal trials ultimately fail in humans. Matthias Zilbauer, a clinical professor at the Cambridge Stem Cell Institute, highlighted that animal models often do not accurately reflect human diseases, stating, "A mouse cannot tell us what works."
The strategy aligns with a government plan to reduce animal testing, promoting 'new approach methodologies' such as organoids, organ-on-a-chip systems, and AI. Last year, animal testing procedures in Britain decreased by 3.8% to 2.54 million. While a full range of organoids will be developed, Zilbauer's team will initially focus on those for inflammatory bowel diseases, with other teams working on cancer and neurological conditions.
Further funding includes £2 million from Innovate UK for nine projects focused on reducing animal use in safety tests. Companies like VivoSphere are developing methods, such as growing heart cells in gel spheres, to detect toxicity earlier and potentially avoid extensive animal testing, which traditionally can involve 50 to 100 animals for certain tests. Dr. Juliet Dukes of Replacing Animals in Research emphasized the potential of these in vitro systems for delivering personalized medicine.