A research team at the Harvard Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering led by Donald Ingber, M.D., Ph.D., has developed a microfluidic organ chip device that is about the size of a USB memory stick, which more accurately reproduces the key pathological features of cystic fibrosis (CF) than other in vitro systems.

Using a self-developed in vitro model, scientists at Saarland University were able to show that the lipid and cholesterol metabolism of tumor-associated immune cells is severely impaired in contrast to that of tumor tissue.

Researchers at the University of Central Florida and at Hesperos, a company based in Orlando, have developed an organ-on-a-chip model to study the mechanisms of the rare autoimmune disease myasthenia gravis.

Dr. Wolfgang Boomgaarden, founder and owner of the Emden-based company PharmaInformatic, has been awarded the Herbert Stiller Prize by the association Doctors Against Animal Experiments.

This year, the Herbert Stiller Prize of the association Doctors Against Animal Experiments goes to Dr. Klara Janjić and her team from the Medical Faculty of the University of Vienna. The researchers have developed a 3D model of the human oral mucosa, which is used to study periodontal disease. However, the model could also help to end animal experiments in dentistry.

Stress research with cerebral organoids

Friday, 29 October 2021 11:21

Scientists at the Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry led by Prof. Dr. Elisabeth Binder have shown that cerebral organoids are a suitable model system to study how stress affects human brain development.

Using cells from patients, researchers at Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, together with scientists from the German Rheumatism Research Center Berlin (DRFZ), have identified an important component in the progression of severe Covid-19 cases. They were able to demonstrate that NK cells, which normally contribute to the early control of SARS-CoV-2, are hindered by the early release of TGFβ.

Online workshop for young scientists

Thursday, 28 October 2021 09:22

The Center for Alternatives to Animal Testing (CAAT) at Johns Hopkins University together with the Animal Welfare Officer of the State of Berlin invite young scientists to a two-day online workshop on November 22-23. The topic is non-animal New Approach Methodologies (NAMs) in biomedical research.

Using tumor organoids from patients, scientists from the German Consortium for Translational Cancer Research (DKTK) at LMU Munich have been able to show that they can specifically adapt therapy to the individual disease thereby possibly preventing resistance.

Provivo Biosciences (formerly LPT), a service provider, plans to minimize animal testing at all of its sites by January of next year and work predominantly in vitro.