Alternatives to Animal Testing, Experimentation and Dissection Articles from All-Creatures.org

Tiny Heart Model Revolutionizes Drug Testing, Cardiovascular Care

From CAARE Citizens for Alternatives to Animal Research
October 2023

This model, derived from human stem cells, includes multiple chambers, an epicardial membrane, and an endocardial lining.

We are constantly bombarded with news of ineffective medical “breakthroughs” based on flawed and unethical animal experiments, the vast majority of which never pan out.

New advancements in human-based heart models may usher in a “new chapter in human physiology”, according to lead author Dr. Yaakov Nahmias from The Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

The model, derived from human stem cells, includes multiple chambers, an epicardial membrane, and an endocardial lining. This meticulously designed model, the size of a grain of rice, will provide scientists with real-time measurements of heart parameters such as oxygen consumption, extracellular field potential, and cardiac contraction.

This advanced model can revolutionize heart-related drug and disease research. Already, scientists have discovered a new form of cardiac arrhythmia using this model, that was not evident in inapplicable animal experiments.

---

Return to Alternatives to Animal Testing, Experimentation and Dissection Articles