Member of the European Parliament Katarina Barley visits the HZI

Afterwards, several stations on the Science Campus Braunschweig-Süd were visited. The HZI is currently building a modern organoid platform under the direction of Josef Penninger, which was presented by Dr Kristin Metzdorf. Organoids are miniature models of human organs that are grown in the laboratory from stem cells and mimic the three-dimensional architecture and function of real organs. They can be used, for example, to test new active substances and therapeutic approaches, thus further reducing the number of animal experiments required. Although the researchers at the HZI are able to replace more and more animal experiments with alternative methods, the complex interaction of the numerous cell types of the immune system with pathogens and the safety and efficacy of active substances cannot yet be fully reproduced using cell culture and computer models.