I work in a related field and while I don’t know anything about supercomputers being more realistic, there is a movement to eliminate animal testing and instead use organ-on-chip models - still using cells, but in vitro. The advantage is not only that you eliminate animal suffering, but also that you can use human cells, so your tests are much more quickly applicable to humans. In fact, in a far away future, you could even test with your cells and see how a specific treatment affects you. Super interesting stuff!
As much as this freaks me out in an imagination-run-wild sci-fi wasteland way, I WISH we had tech like that. It would help so much with preventative medicine.
I work in a related field and while I don’t know anything about supercomputers being more realistic, there is a movement to eliminate animal testing and instead use organ-on-chip models - still using cells, but in vitro. The advantage is not only that you eliminate animal suffering, but also that you can use human cells, so your tests are much more quickly applicable to humans. In fact, in a far away future, you could even test with your cells and see how a specific treatment affects you. Super interesting stuff!
There’s also the idea of organoids for studying development without having to study the entire organism.
here’s hoping that takes off and we can stop abusing defenceless animals.
As much as this freaks me out in an imagination-run-wild sci-fi wasteland way, I WISH we had tech like that. It would help so much with preventative medicine.