AS THE public debate rages over the use of animals in drug development, a change is taking place in labs across the world. The first realistic software models of human and animal organs are starting to emerge – potentially replacing some of the 50 to 100 million animals used each year for scientific research.
The first models of how the heart works were built decades ago (Â鶹´«Ã½, 20 March 1999, p 24), but they are much more sophisticated now. The models couple mechanical contractions to electrical waves in three dimensions, for instance, to show thousands of molecular interactions and…
