TY - JOUR
KW - Animal Testing Alternatives
KW - Animals
KW - Artificial intelligence
KW - Biological Science Disciplines
KW - Bioprinting
KW - Digital Twins
KW - High-throughput screening
KW - Humans
KW - Live-cell, high-content and real-time analysis
KW - Microgravity and radiation simulators
KW - microphysiological system
KW - Primary cells and stem cells
KW - Space Flight
KW - Spheroids and organoids
KW - systems biology
AU - Mathieu Vinken
AU - Daniela Grimm
AU - Sarah Baatout
AU - Bjorn Baselet
AU - Afshin Beheshti
AU - Markus Braun
AU - Anna Catharina Carstens
AU - James A. Casaletto
AU - Ben Cools
AU - Sylvain V. Costes
AU - Phoebe De Meulemeester
AU - Bartu Doruk
AU - Sara Eyal
AU - Miguel J. S. Ferreira
AU - Silvana Miranda
AU - Christiane Hahn
AU - Sinem Helvacıoğlu Akyüz
AU - Stefan Herbert
AU - Dmitriy Krepkiy
AU - Yannick Lichterfeld
AU - Christian Liemersdorf
AU - Marcus Krüger
AU - Shannon Marchal
AU - Jette Ritz
AU - Theresa Schmakeit
AU - Hilde Stenuit
AU - Kevin Tabury
AU - Torsten Trittel
AU - Markus Wehland
AU - Yu Shrike Zhang
AU - Karson S. Putt
AU - Zhong-Yin Zhang
AU - Danilo A. Tagle
AB - Human settlements on the Moon, crewed missions to Mars and space tourism will become a reality in the next few decades. Human presence in space, especially for extended periods of time, will therefore steeply increase. However, despite more than 60 years of spaceflight, the mechanisms underlying the effects of the space environment on human physiology are still not fully understood. Animals, ranging in complexity from flies to monkeys, have played a pioneering role in understanding the (patho)physiological outcome of critical environmental factors in space, in particular altered gravity and cosmic radiation. The use of animals in biomedical research is increasingly being criticized because of ethical reasons and limited human relevance. Driven by the 3Rs concept, calling for replacement, reduction and refinement of animal experimentation, major efforts have been focused in the past decades on the development of alternative methods that fully bypass animal testing or so-called new approach methodologies. These new approach methodologies range from simple monolayer cultures of individual primary or stem cells all up to bioprinted 3D organoids and microfluidic chips that recapitulate the complex cellular architecture of organs. Other approaches applied in life sciences in space research contribute to the reduction of animal experimentation. These include methods to mimic space conditions on Earth, such as microgravity and radiation simulators, as well as tools to support the processing, analysis or application of testing results obtained in life sciences in space research, including systems biology, live-cell, high-content and real-time analysis, high-throughput analysis, artificial intelligence and digital twins. The present paper provides an in-depth overview of such methods to replace or reduce animal testing in life sciences in space research.
BT - Biotechnology Advances
DA - 2025
DO - 10.1016/j.biotechadv.2025.108574
LA - eng
N2 - Human settlements on the Moon, crewed missions to Mars and space tourism will become a reality in the next few decades. Human presence in space, especially for extended periods of time, will therefore steeply increase. However, despite more than 60 years of spaceflight, the mechanisms underlying the effects of the space environment on human physiology are still not fully understood. Animals, ranging in complexity from flies to monkeys, have played a pioneering role in understanding the (patho)physiological outcome of critical environmental factors in space, in particular altered gravity and cosmic radiation. The use of animals in biomedical research is increasingly being criticized because of ethical reasons and limited human relevance. Driven by the 3Rs concept, calling for replacement, reduction and refinement of animal experimentation, major efforts have been focused in the past decades on the development of alternative methods that fully bypass animal testing or so-called new approach methodologies. These new approach methodologies range from simple monolayer cultures of individual primary or stem cells all up to bioprinted 3D organoids and microfluidic chips that recapitulate the complex cellular architecture of organs. Other approaches applied in life sciences in space research contribute to the reduction of animal experimentation. These include methods to mimic space conditions on Earth, such as microgravity and radiation simulators, as well as tools to support the processing, analysis or application of testing results obtained in life sciences in space research, including systems biology, live-cell, high-content and real-time analysis, high-throughput analysis, artificial intelligence and digital twins. The present paper provides an in-depth overview of such methods to replace or reduce animal testing in life sciences in space research.
PY - 2025
EP - 108574
ST - Taking the 3Rs to a higher level
T2 - Biotechnology Advances
TI - Taking the 3Rs to a higher level: replacement and reduction of animal testing in life sciences in space research
VL - 81
SN - 1873-1899
ER -