At the end of September, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced the contract award for the establishment of a Standardized Organoid Modeling (SOM) Center. Using artificial intelligence, robotics, and a variety of human cell sources, the new NIH SOM Center will standardize organoid models and make them accessible and reproducible.

A research team has established an in vitro menstrual cycle (IVMC) protocol using human endometrial organoids that accurately replicates the epithelium during the key phases of the menstrual cycle, including differentiation, hormone withdrawal, degradation, and regeneration. 

Researchers at Utrecht University Medical Center have expanded their in vivo research on mice with animal-free methods after receiving support from the 3Rs Centre Utrecht. Suppo3Rt is a staffed central support desk that offers tailored guidance to researchers and other stakeholders about the possibilities of NAMs as a replacement or reduction of animal testing.

The startup LifeTaq from Klosterneuburg, Austria, in collaboration with the Austrian Research Institute for Chemistry and Technology (OFI), has developed a robot-based machine that is capable of producing 3D tissue models fully automatically under controlled conditions. It is intended to replace animal testing in preclinical research.