Can Tissue Engineering be an Alternative to Animal Experimentation?
Dr Gwen Reilly, Lecturer – Tissue Engineering

Over the past 10-15 years there has been tremendous development in 3D cell and tissue culture models predominantly for clinical purposes (e.g. in regenerative medicine). In the intervening period European legislation has banned the use of animals for testing purposes – in particular for cosmetics. There is therefore a need to use alternative models, however most alternatives are simple in vitro models with high cost and limited scientific information.

• Can the use of 3D tissue engineered models serve a useful purpose as alternatives for animal testing?
• What are the major barriers in developing such models and having them accepted by industry?