Three of these projects are based at the University of Berne while the other one is located at ETH Zurich. The three Berne projects pursue the goal of using cell cultures to replace animal experiments. Therefore, scientists from the ARTORG Center for Biomedical Engineering Research at the University of Berne are breeding human lung cells on a chip: in cooperation between ARTORG and the University Hospital for Pneumology a new model for the investigation of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) will be developed.

Researchers at the Department for BioMedical Research (DBMR) are developing three-dimensional cell structures (organoids) to study tumor growth. At the Institute of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine (IBMM), a research group is developing a cell model in order to investigate how drugs are transferred during pregnancy from mother to child. For this reason, the researchers are creating a new type of cell culture from cells of the mother's placenta and from the umbilical vein of the child in the form of a three-dimensional system.

The ETH Zurich group has a refinement topic: Johannes Bohacek's team from the Institute of Neuroscience will develop machine learning tools to better analyze the behavior of rodents in the laboratory.  


Sources:
https://www.uniaktuell.unibe.ch/2020/schub_fuer_tierversuchsfreie_methoden/index_ger.html
https://www.swiss3rcc.org/fileadmin/Media/Uploads/3RCC_MM_3R-Forschungsfoerderung_2019.pdf