JULY 2023LIFE SCIENCES REVIEW9Bio printed 3D models are emerging as strong alternatives that eliminate animal cruelty (ethical reasons) and reduce costs and time and enable lower data variationpartially translates into human clinical trials because of cross-species differences. Therefore, 3D tissue models in preclinical drug discovery can help drug developers bring only the best candidates to clinical trials.All of the above explains why an increasing number of scientists are turning to bioprinting to study different pharmaceutical applications such as targeted drug delivery, drug efficacy or toxicity, and high-throughput screening. Also, workflows that incorporate 3D bioprinting in preclinical testing tend to cost less and accelerate overall productivity. Finally, 3D bioprinting can incorporate patient-derived cells, which opens the door to a personalized approach to therapy development. Can 3D bioprinting replace animal models in the near future?Today, drug discovery relies heavily on animal models in preclinical testing, which have numerous shortcomings. However, bioprinted 3D models are emerging as strong alternatives that eliminate animal cruelty (ethical reasons) and reduce costs and time and enable lower data variation. For example, great success has been achieved in developing 3D skin models that enable in vitro drug testing for cosmetics. This method has proven to be more successful in testing drug effects in humans compared to animals and thus has been widely accepted. The goal of CELLINK has always been to provide research tools that minimize the use of animals in research. Using 3D bioprinted alternative models support sustainability efforts, including the 3Rs principle of Replacing, Reducing, and Refining the use of animals in medical research. Furthermore, CELLINK has introduced Sustainable Tissue Engineering Practices (STEP) to support such efforts. We aim to create awareness for more sustainable and responsible research and to develop technologies that enable researchers to use 3D bioprinted alternatives that replace animal models in the near future.
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