Human Lungs Created To Test Drugs By Australian Scientists

University of Australia scientists, with collaborators from South Korea, China, and, of course, Australia, have gone on to develop a step-wise blueprint so as to create advanced human lung models in the lab, which, according to them, is going to accelerate the exploration and also the development of novel drugs and thereby reduce reliance on animal testing to gauge their efficacy.

Notably, lab-made lungs that are named organoids or mini organs are 3D structures that are grown from human primary cells that mirror actual organs in the body. They, as a matter of fact, serve as a testing ground when it comes to biomedical research.

Professor of nanomedicine at the Sydney Pharmacy School, Wojciech Chrzanowski, who happens to be the faculty of medicine and a member of the Charles Perkins Centre as well as a senior author, opines that this work is important since, because of it, they will be able to lessen the animal numbers in medical research, speed up the discovery of new drugs, and also accelerate innovative strategies when it comes to treating diseases.

It is well to note that Australia went on to ban cosmetic animal testing in 2020, and even the United States passed legislation last year ending the requirement that new drugs be tested on animals.

Significantly, these artificial lung models put Australia at the forefront in mini organ research, said Professor Wojciech Chrzanowski, who has been asking for the establishment of a national centre for medical research alternatives to animal methodology.