Researchers have developed artificial organs on computer chips and digital twins to avoid animal testing. The technologies will primarily be used in drug development.
There are increasing plans around the world to gradually end animal testing. Only recently the British Science Minister announced that he wanted to phase out animal testing. According to one strategy, testing of potential skin irritants on animals should be stopped by the end of 2026.
In addition, researchers should be encouraged to stop botox injections on mice by 2027. Drug testing on dogs and non-human primates will be gradually reduced by 2030, according to the plan. The news follows similar moves by other countries.
In April 2025, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced a plan to replace animal testing for monoclonal antibody therapies with more effective models tailored to humans. After a workshop in June 2024, the European Commission is also working on a roadmap to phase out animal testing for chemical safety assessment.
Animal rights groups have been pushing for such commitments for decades, but a lack of alternatives has made it difficult to end animal testing. Advances in medical science and biotechnology are now changing this.
New alternatives to animal testing: organs on computer chips
Although animal testing has long been a standard in research and has led to important discoveries, many scientists question its justification. Around 95 percent of treatments that appear promising in animals do not reach the market.
The past few decades have seen dramatic advances in technologies that offer new ways to model the human body without experimenting on animals. An example of this is “organs on chips”. Researchers created miniature versions of human organs in tiny plastic housings.
These systems contain the same mix of cells as real organs and are supplied with nutrients to keep them alive. Researchers have already created models of the liver, intestines, heart, kidneys and even the brain.
One example is heart chips that were sent into space to observe the response to low gravity. The FDA is again using lung chips to evaluate Covid-19 vaccines. Intestinal chips are used to study the effects of radiation. Some researchers are working on combining multiple chips into a “body on a chip,” but this has not been fully achieved in over a decade.
AI and digital twins
Other scientists are working on growing model versions of organs or even embryos in the laboratory. By growing groups of cells into tiny 3D structures, researchers can study organ development and test drugs on them. These organ models can even be personalized by taking cells from a specific person.
The British government strategy also mentions the potential of artificial intelligence. Many scientists are using AI to analyze huge databases, for example to find connections between genes, proteins and diseases. Others use them to design completely new drugs.
Scientists could test these new drugs on virtual people in the future. These are not real people, but digital reconstructions that exist in a computer. Biomedical engineers have already created digital twins of organs. Ongoing studies are using digital hearts to guide surgeons how and where to operate on real hearts.
However, it is unlikely that animal testing will be completely phased out by 2030. The UK government acknowledges that these continue to be required by many regulators, including the FDA, the European Medicines Agency and the World Health Organization. Although alternative methods have made great progress, none of them perfectly replicate the reaction of a living body – at least not yet.
Also interesting:
