Drug discovery and development is a critical step in pharmacological research; however, this process still relies heavily on animal testing. Animal experiments not only face ethical concerns but are also expensive and time-consuming. To mitigate these issues, Professor Patrick Müller and his team at the University of Konstanz in Germany are developing an automated assessment method called "EmbryoNet-AI," aimed at replacing traditional animal testing and significantly enhancing the efficiency of drug development.
Professor Müller recently received a €150,000 "Proof of Concept" grant from the European Research Council (ERC) to support the progress of his research project. EmbryoNet is developed based on his findings from the "ACE-OF-SPACE" project, and the software can automatically detect defects in animal embryos during development, greatly improving detection speed and accuracy.
The advantage of EmbryoNet lies in its ability to identify potential harmful substances during the early stages of drug screening and analyze the mechanisms of drug action. Müller stated that EmbryoNet even surpasses human experts in terms of accuracy. The research team first conducted related experiments using zebrafish embryos in 2023, and the results were published in the journal Nature Methods. Subsequently, they expanded the software to organoids, which are biomimetic tissues cultivated from human stem cells in the laboratory and can serve as models for drug research.
With the support of ERC funding, Müller’s team will continue to enhance the AI model of EmbryoNet, expand its capabilities, and plans to establish an online platform that allows global users to access this software. Through close collaboration with other researchers, industrial partners, and relevant regulatory bodies, the team hopes to ensure that the platform meets user needs and compliance requirements, ultimately making EmbryoNet a marketable product.
The fully automated nature of EmbryoNet allows pharmaceutical companies to integrate it directly into their research processes, enabling high-throughput testing of hundreds of substances and quickly assessing their effects on specific organs or developmental processes without the need for cumbersome animal experiments. This innovative approach not only reduces the number of animal tests but also significantly shortens the drug development timeline and lowers research costs. Professor Müller believes that in the long run, EmbryoNet will fundamentally change the landscape of drug development.