Pioneering Better Science: Alternatives to Animals

Deepali Pal is using patient’s cells to recreate human cancer in a dish. In her search for better, personalised treatments for leukaemia, Deepali is turning stem cells into ‘organoids’ – 3D balls of cells that mimic human tissues. Using these organoids to test anti-cancer drugs in her lab, Deepali replaced over 2,500 mice in one year. Learn more and hear about her latest cancer research innovation using new 3D bioprinting technology and artificial intelligence.

Deepali is a trained medic and currently is a cancer research scientist. She works with multidisciplinary teams, including engineers, mathematicians, and hospitals, with the aim of finding safer and kinder therapies for leukaemia. After completing her PhD studies and initial research training she began to build her own research group. She has also been working closely with the NC3Rs and her colleagues to create human tissue-like models in her laboratory. Her group uses these lab-grown tissues to understand how leukaemia cells interact with neighbouring non-cancer cells to escape treatment. Deepali and her group have been constantly improving and advancing these models using latest techs such as 3D printing and artificial intelligence (AI).

Fruit flies have been a cornerstone of biomedical research for over a century and today offer scientists a surprising alternative to some animal studies. Helen Weavers is using these tiny insects to study several human diseases – including lung conditions like cystic fibrosis and COPD, an area of research that currently uses over 7,000 animals a year worldwide. Discover how Helen’s lab uses these Nobel Prize-winning creatures to reveal new insights into human diseases and how flies could even be used to test new drugs.

Helen’s group studies how our bodies resist and recover after injury - and why this sometimes goes wrong and leads to disease. Their ultimate goal is to find new ways to improve our bodies resilience and ability to bounce back after challenge. By studying a variety of tissues (including the skin, lungs and kidneys), their research is relevant to a wide range of health conditions. Lately, Helen’s group has been working with the NC3Rs to develop new insect models to study inflammatory lung conditions like COPD.