Ingredient Tests Without Animal Testing

The lungs are the most common organ affected in COVID-19 disease. Understanding the course of the disease and finding an effective drug quickly is a top priority. Prof. Maike Windbergs researches how drugs are absorbed by human tissue and how they then work. To do this, the pharmacist experiments, among other things, with realistic three-dimensional tissue structures made from human cells and polymers. Such models can be used to simulate and research diseases in the test tube, and to test newly developed active ingredients. She specifically infects her human lung models with SARS-CoV. In this way, therapeutic targets can be found and new therapeutics can be tested. No animal testing is required for these studies. There are well-engineered models for lung tissue, "Since laboratory animals, such as mice, react completely differently to a COVID-19 infection, we need meaningful models so that we can get drugs into clinical use more quickly. With complex, three-dimensional in-vitro models from human cells, it is possible to replace extensive in-vivo studies on animals with laboratory experiments in test tubes and Petri dishes. "