By Maneka Gandhi
Using cadavers, computer simulators and human clinical and epidemiological studies, is faster, more reliable, less expensive and more humane than using animal tests. Ingenious scientists have used human brain cells to develop a model “microbrain” that can be used to study tumours. They have also developed artificial skin and artificial bone marrow. We can now test irritancy on egg membranes, perform pregnancy tests by using blood samples instead of killing rabbits, and produce vaccines from cell cultures. As Gordon Baxter, co-founder of Pharmagene Laboratories (a company that uses only human tissues and computers to develop and test drugs), says, “If you have information on human genes, what’s the point of going back to animals?”
