Why Use Human Cells for Trials Rather than Human Beings?

Human cells are used in trials to avoid putting humans at risk, says HealthMaker Francis Collins, MD, PhD, director of the National Institutes of Health. In this video, Dr. Collins describes how human cell research is transforming toxicology.

Transcript

00:00

To the extent that we could avoid putting humans at risk, particularly, if you're trying a new therapeutic that's never

00:08

before been in a human body. And you could test its toxicity, in a situation that

00:14

wasn't depending on animals. Because they don't always relate to humans, in terms of biological response, using human cells

00:21

but not putting humans at risk. Sure, yeah, we are building these biochips that are loaded up with human cells

00:28

from many different organ systems. Actually, designed not just cells on a flat surface, but three dimensional organoids.

00:35

And get those cells to tell us when they're happy, and when they're not happy. It's a great way to transform toxicology

00:42

and, particularly, to figure out whether a new drug, that you'd like to bring into human clinical trials, is safe or not.