News Brief: Kim Lab featured in ‘Scientific American’ article
Johns Hopkins biomedical engineers were featured in an Aug. 20 Scientific American article about animal testing alternatives.
The article, “The End of the Lab Rat?” discusses how a growing, multidisciplinary community of researchers around the world is investigating alternatives to animal models, including Deok-Ho Kim, professor of biomedical engineering, and Anicca Harriot, a postdoctoral fellow in his lab.
Researchers in the Kim Lab develop human microphysiological systems and organoids for drug discovery and development. These bioengineered tissue models closely mimic human biology and could change the way diseases are studied and treated.
Kim’s team conducts studies using human stem cells rather than animal models: and because they share the same genes as their human donors, stem cell-based systems are particularly useful for studying rare diseases and other disorders for which animal models do not exist or fall short of producing good results. Current projects include testing the cardiotoxicity and effectiveness of new chemotherapy drugs—many of which fail in humans because they are unsafe or don’t work—and screening new therapies for muscular dystrophy.