In December, SAO and colleagues sent 23 pages of recommendations to #OSTP on "accelerating the American scientific enterprise." In 2025, agencies like #NIH and #FDA began phasing out animal use—a big step forward, but still voluntary. #SciencePolicy #SciPol

At @bcmhouston.bsky.social, @kathlemon.bsky.social, @katypatras.bsky.social, @josh-lensmire.bsky.social, & colleagues are using human nasal #organoids to study how different bacteria interact & live within the lining of the human nose. journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/... #microsky 🧪

New study on social acceptance of #xenotransplantation in Japan: 🐖 Only 1.7% ranked it as their first choice 🐖 77% would feel uncomfortable if suggested by a doctor 🐖 61% would decline the procedure 🐖 88% fear infection from animal-derived pathogens onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

In the U.S., 1 in 3 women experience heavy menstrual bleeding, often leading to iron deficiency & anemia. Despite its prevalence, the causes remain poorly understood. With help from @wellcomeleap.bsky.social, @wyssinstitute.bsky.social aims to change that. #WomensHealth 🧪

FDA Modernization Act 3.0 passed the U.S. Senate, bringing it closer to law and reinforcing a shift to modern, science-driven nonclinical testing. By removing outdated animal-testing language, it supports robust, human-relevant NAMs. We are excited to use this momentum at InSphero in the new year! 🚀

2025 was a banner year for the COLAAB! 🚀 From the pages of Nature to the halls of NIH, this year we turned awareness into action, leveling the playing field for researchers using nonanimal methods. Check out our 2025 Wrapped! ⬇️ www.linkedin.com/pulse/colaab...

🧬 Opportunity for #omics researchers! #NHLBI seeks applicants to leverage its TOPMed program for large-scale genetics & multi-omics data to uncover molecular mechanisms of heart, lung, blood, & sleep disorders. More info: grants.nih.gov/grants/guide...

👀 Your eyes reveal more than you think! NIH’s #AllofUs, #NEI & #NIBIB launched Eyes on Health to study links between eye imaging & chronic conditions like heart disease, diabetes, & neurological disorders. allofus.nih.gov/article/all-... #VisionScience #Ophthosky #imaging #biomed #BME

To investigate neuroinflammation in Alzheimer’s disease pathogenesis, researchers at #IUBloomington, @cityofhope.bsky.social, @uclaanes.bsky.social, & @mayoclinic.org developed a human cortical #organoid microphysiological system to study monocyte-mediated neuroinflammation. #neuroskyence #alz #MPS

2025 was a breakthrough year for human-relevant science. 🧪 Behind the scenes, our SAO team spent thousands of hours moving this work forward. We’re proud to share a few highlights from an impactful year ⬇️ Onward to an even more ambitious 2026! 🎉 —Emily, Kati, Donya & Gabby

Read how @emulatebio.bsky.social's organ-chips are driving the future of personalized medicine. By using patients' own cells, researchers & clinicians can preserve the genetic & physiological complexity of real individuals, capturing what makes each patient unique. emulatebio.com/using-organ-...

In Films' Sentient is part of the World Cinema Documentary Competition at #Sundance! Sentient features the story of my colleague Dr. Lisa Jones-Engel, a primatologist who turned away from the laboratory and toward animal liberation. festival.sundance.org/program/film... #animalrights #ethics

It's not all bad!

Excellent feature on @aaguirre1980.bsky.social's lab at @michiganstateu.bsky.social! "Therapeutic drug development for A-fib has struggled because there are no reliable animal models that resemble the disease." Enter Aguirre's human heart #assembloids ➡️ msutoday.msu.edu/news/2025/12... #Afib

🧠 Organoid research at @emoryuniversity.bsky.social just got an upgrade! The @brainorganoidhub.bsky.social, part of @emorygenetics.bsky.social, is now the home of a new CellXpress.ai Automated Cell Culture System.

GigaTIME! 🖥️ 🔬 🧬 🧪 This multimodal #AI model by @msftresearch.bsky.social, @uwcse.bsky.social, & Providence Cancer Institute translates conventional pathology slides into virtual multiplex immunofluorescence (mIF) images that map tumor details. www.microsoft.com/en-us/resear... #oncsky #medsky

In a new paper, Costello et al. explore how @imrasurgical.bsky.social’s robotic & laparoscopic surgical simulation models are “platform‑agnostic," meaning they can be seamlessly integrated across multiple robotic systems from different manufacturers. #medsky #meded #surgsky #surged

2026 is almost here! If you’re racing to get your manuscript across the finish line, don’t let reviewer bias against nonanimal methods slow you down. Our Author Guide helps you strengthen your manuscript and avoid #AnimalMethodsBias in manuscript review. 🧪 www.animalmethodsbias.org/author-guide

Don't forget to check NIH's centralized list of research priority areas for new potential funding topics! We've pulled the ones applicable to #NAMs scientists. 🧫 🧬 🧪 Bookmark this page 🔖 grants.nih.gov/funding/find... #funding #NIHfunding #researchfunding

Another groundbreaking discovery brought to you by organoids. ✨🧫✨ @stanfordmedicine.bsky.social & @cincychildrens.bsky.social scientists created #UlcerativeColitis colon organoids (colonoids) using biopsies from pediatric patients with the condition. #gastrosky #medsky #pedsky #organoid 🧪

💡 While most ethics lit on animal experimentation focuses on the harms & benefits of the practice in the here & now, @nicodmueller.bsky.social of @unibas.ch argues that we should also be asking macro-level, long-term questions about how institutions can ultimately move away from it. #bioethics 👇

Researchers at @ub.edu have uncovered new molecular pathophysiology features underlying #Dravet syndrome, identifying impaired network connectivity & an early excitatory–inhibitory imbalance in human brain #organoids. #neuroskyence 🧪

In this brief communication, scientists at @niaidnews.bsky.social report that prions from #neurodegenerative disorders—specifically CJD & FFI—can infect human cerebral #organoids regardless of whether the organoids carry the disease-causing mutation. #neuroskyence

Please share with journal editors in your networks!

The human brain doesn’t just recognize human voices—it also recognizes those of #chimpanzees. 🧠 Using #fMRI, @leoceravolo.bsky.social, @thibaudgruber.bsky.social, & colleagues played vocalizations from humans, chimpanzees, bonobos, & macaques to 23 participants. ⬇️ 🧪 🧬 #neuroskyence #evobio

Hey DC/MD/VA! Hope you can join me for some of these upcoming events, starting tonight with Mary Hollingsworth at @dcpubliclibrary.bsky.social! #booksky, #dogs, #animalresearch 📚💙

New research from @mdanderson.bsky.social brings human-relevant insights to breast cancer using multi- #omics. The Navin lab developed wellDR-seq, a high-throughput method that profiles the genome & transcriptome of thousands of single cells simultaneously. 🧪 #genomics #oncsky #breastcancer

This #SysRev examines 17 studies assessing the usefulness of 3D-printed, VR, & AR surgical simulators for teaching urology trainees to perform renal cancer surgeries, with many focusing on laparoscopic & robot-assisted partial nephrectomies. #MedEd #MedSky #SurgEd #SurgSky

Congrats to Revalia Bio on its $26.7M @arpa-h.bsky.social grant! Revalia will "build advanced AI-driven models trained on Human Data Trials, living systems derived from donated human organs, organ-on-chip platforms, and multimodal datasets." www.accessnewswire.com/newsroom/en/... 🧪

The Fall 2025 edition of SAO Quarterly is landing in inboxes this week! 🙅 No spam. ✅ Just 4 content-packed emails per year. "This is an amazing newsletter!!!" – A happy subscriber Sign up at the bottom of our homepage: scienceadvancement.org 🧪 #scipol #bioethics #medsky

Join the Q&A webinar for the NAMs Reduction to Practice Challenge this Wednesday, December 10th at 3:00pm ET! Link to register: herox.zoom.us/webinar/regi... #NAMs #funding #researchfunding #NIHfunding 🧪

New website to bookmark! 🔖 bimmoh.eu The Biomedical models Hub (BimmoH) is the largest public database of biomedical research papers using human biology-based models. You can search by model, clinical condition, disease, pathophysiology, anatomy, histology, cell type, & more. 🧪

In this review, Niraj Chaudhary & Luis G. Villa-Diaz of @oaklandu.bsky.social provide a comprehensive analysis of current animal-free #hPSC culture platforms and their role in drug discovery, regenerative medicine, & more. 🧪 www.frontiersin.org/journals/tox...

Instead of mice, @rimuhc.bsky.social, @mcgill.ca, & @stanford.edu researchers hiPSC-derived neuronal models, including cortical #organoids, to discover that the chromosomal deletion that causes #SmithMagenis syndrome disrupts multiple steps of cortical development. #neuroskyence 🧪

In November, SAO submitted comments on the Muscular Dystrophy Coordinating Committee (MDCC) Action Plan. In our statement, we urged MDCC to fully embrace human-based research & align with #NIH initiatives expanding funding, training, & infrastructure for human-relevant approaches. 🧪 #scipol

My 2025 Bluesky wrapped thanks to @anisota.net Find yours here: anisota.net/harvest

When making a plan for her #PhD project, Trunnell recalls her professor telling her, “you’re going to want to do animal work because that’s what journals want to publish. You’ll have much less luck publishing papers if they’re only in vitro.” www.whenwejustify.org/post/the-sci...

When you were starting your scientific career, did you feel pressured to conduct animal experiments? Or maybe you still do? COLAAB founding member @ertrunnell.bsky.social shares her experience as a PhD student in this blog for @justifyglobal.bsky.social. #phdlife #phdchat #phdsky

Researchers at @ouhospitals.bsky.social are testing #VR to teach #tracheostomy skills to medical trainees. Tracheostomies are rare, and this limited clinical exposure has been used by some programs to justify training using live animals, typically pigs. #MedSky #MedED

The 4th Helsinki #AnimalLaw Conference will be June 9–10 at @helsinki.fi, with a PhD workshop on June 8. Submit abstracts for the conference or the workshop by Jan 31 ➡ www.helsinki.fi/en/researchg... Keynote speakers include @jeffsebo.bsky.social & @annepetersmpil.bsky.social.

A new study by @ucdaviscancer.bsky.social researchers reveals why experiments on rhesus macaques aren't a good fit for certain cancer immunotherapy studies. #oncology #oncsky #animalresearch

For decades, communities devastated by HIV & AIDS fought tirelessly just to be heard. They marched, they protested, they demanded research funding and accountability—often in the face of stigma & indifference. Their courage changed the world, forcing governments & institutions to act. #WorldAIDSDay

💉 UpSurgeOn’s hyper-realistic spine deformity simulator: ✅ Avoids the use of live animals ✅ Is cadaver-free ✅ Offers trainees the experience of working with bleeding tissue ✅ Integrates mixed reality ✅ Is compatible with mobile X-ray www.upsurgeon.com/spine-deform... #MedEd #Medsky

We summarized our analysis of NIH-funded neuroscience research: study sections dominated by experts in animal-based research, correlating with fewer funded non-animal projects and underscoring the need for diverse expertise in review groups. doi.org/10.1101/2025... #neuroskyence

Last week, we offered our assistance to #NIH officials in advancing the agency's goal of reforming grant review to better prioritize human-based research. We also recommended additional steps the agency could take to further mitigate #AnimalMethodsBias in the review process. #grantreview #scipol

We were honored to receive @lushprize.bsky.social's Major Science Collaboration prize last year. Excited to see this year's nominees!

💡Planning to publish on the use of animals in medical or surgical training? We’ve created a new resource listing journals that accept papers on this topic. Let us know if we missed any! www.scienceadvancement.org/resources/me... #MedEd #MedSky #SurgSky #SurgEd

"Given all the progress that has been made in recent years, it’s not too hard to imagine a future without animal testing." - @jesshamzelou.bsky.social for MIT Technology Review www.technologyreview.com/2025/11/14/1... 🧪 #NAMs

In this preprint, @stanford.edu scientists present Hybprinter, a 3D hybrid #bioprinting platform that combines soft hydrogels with rigid biomaterials in a single, continuous process. @bioe-stanford.bsky.social @stanfordmedicine.bsky.social 🧪

🚨 BREAKING: The CDC will end all experiments on monkeys. Fate of ~200 macaques is uncertain, but an agency representative recently contacted a sanctuary: "He wanted to know how many monkeys we could take immediately ... and whether it would be possible to retire all of them within a year."