Can this algae make animal testing obsolete? | DW News

[00:00:01]These little things can answer big personal questions fast. Do you have the flu? [music] Are you sick with COVID? Are you pregnant? What most people don't know, animals are used to make them and can die [music] in the process.

[00:00:14]But these inconspicuous algae growing all over our coasts and floating the ocean can put an end [music] to this.

[00:00:21]These two founders developed the first animal-free pregnancy test and are now trying to spread [music] the word.

[00:00:28]>> We need um awareness. We need the people to buy it because if there's a demand, also the industry changes.

[00:00:35]>> Could this be the cruelty-free future of diagnostics?

[00:00:41]We're in the north of Germany where the ocean kisses the beach.

[00:00:45]Alina Iles and her father are on a treasure hunt for this story's VIP.

[00:00:50]It's hiding somewhere in the mud.

[00:00:52]At low tide, [music] the sea retreats up to 40 km and builds the German mudflats, a UNESCO World [music] Heritage Site.

[00:01:02]>> When the water is gone, you have like millions of animals and it's such a big ecosystem that's unique and fascinating.

[00:01:11]>> It's home to more than 10,000 [music] species that often live buried in the mud.

[00:01:16]Like the peppery furrow shell that digs itself into the ground.

[00:01:20]Or the lugworm.

[00:01:21]>> It's so slimy.

[00:01:23]>> [gasps] >> It's okay. It's okay. As long as it's yeah, moving slowly, it's fine.

[00:01:31]>> And then there's this brown slush, the algae in question. It's easy to miss.

[00:01:37]>> It's brown on brown but like washy brown on muddy brown.

[00:01:41]>> It's a very simple organism. It just needs the sunlight. It needs some salt water, some other nutritions and basically CO2 to do photosynthesis and to grow and produce oxygen.

[00:01:56]>> In fact, 25% of all oxygen we breathe comes from this type of algae that looks marvelous up close.

[00:02:03]It's called the diatom and has 100,000 subspecies.

[00:02:07]It also binds 25% of all carbon dioxide out there. So, it plays a really important role in preventing the planet from heating [music] up further. And it's super low maintenance. It even survives being stepped on or baked in the sun.

[00:02:20]>> It's fine. It gets up again. It survives. That's fine.

[00:02:25]>> And as Alina found out, [music] it's got the power to shift how we do diagnostics.

[00:02:30]To do that, it has to leave its natural habitat and enter the [music] lab.

[00:02:35]Here, it's used to make a pregnancy test, the first one to avoid animal use at every stage.

[00:02:41]Most home [music] diagnostic tests work like a game of catch. Antibodies on the test strip spot a specific antigen, such as a hormone in the urine of pregnant women, [music] and send out a signal.

[00:02:51]To get these antibodies, scientists essentially hijack an animal's immune system.

[00:02:55]>> For example, it would be a mouse or a rabbit. You would inject them with your antigen of interest.

[00:03:01]You would let that that that animal produce naturally naturally produce antibodies to that uh protein, and then you would extract the blood from the animal.

[00:03:12]>> Scientists do this when they develop a new test, like when there's a new COVID variant.

[00:03:17]But that's not all. Lab animals are also used to mass-produce antibodies for common tests.

[00:03:23]Undercover footage from a German farm shows rabbits that are being held to produce antibodies and to extract blood.

[00:03:29]It's an exceptionally gruesome case.

[00:03:31]This method is decades old, but it's still being used today.

[00:03:35]Each year, an estimated 276,000 animals are used for antibody production in the EU alone, though not all for diagnostic purposes.

[00:03:45]Luckily, we have other ways to make antibodies.

[00:03:49]Bacteria and yeast cultures, for example, though they can't grow the complex [music] antibodies Alina needs.

[00:03:59]>> The one that's more conventionally used is that you use, you know, a very small number of animals to an extract their cells, immortalize those cells, and then you've got that antibody as much as you want.

[00:04:11]>> It's called animal cell culture and can take place in the lab like this one.

[00:04:15]But it also has its costs because the cells [music] are demanding.

[00:04:20]>> The animal cell culture needs an environment that's blood like because the cells need an environment they know.

[00:04:27]So it's 37° and a media like a solution that's made up from blood cell or from other animals.

[00:04:35]>> To get these settings, you need high-tech gear like expensive incubators.

[00:04:40]>> The cost of producing antibodies and discovering antibodies is very is very high.

[00:04:45]And I feel like if if you can crack this way of making it in something like algae, and you can produce it on a real large scale, that's really advantageous.

[00:04:55]>> Because the algae in question are very undemanding.

[00:04:58]They live comfortably in this tank at 20° C, sea temperature, in simple salt water with a lot of light.

[00:05:05]Though right now there's only water in here.

[00:05:08]That makes the system considerably easier to run.

[00:05:11]In theory, the algae can grow antibodies for various lateral flow tests, the kind of test usually used at home.

[00:05:19]Alina and her team are already looking into developing menopause and ovulation tests.

[00:05:26]>> The majority of lateral flow tests used are for are in low middle income countries where we're trying to get that cost as low as low as possible. And if you can lower that cost by producing them in in, you know, algae that just need to sit in the sun and, you know, harvest that energy just to produce the antibodies and maybe use a lot less energy, a lot less personnel, then that's a real advantage.

[00:05:49]>> But for this to work, an entire industry would need to be convinced.

[00:05:54]In theory, that would match European policy. In 2020, the European Commission published a report calling for an end to using animals to make antibodies for ethical concerns and because there are valid alternatives.

[00:06:07]But in practice, this is a tough nut to crack. Using animals in this field is very well established. So it's a bit of a never change a running system situation.

[00:06:16]>> Bioengineers in general are risk-averse.

[00:06:18]You know, so we'll go for it what is what is well understood and works well.

[00:06:23]And obviously, it is a field that's dominated by some massive biochemical companies.

[00:06:29]>> They most of all look for price, quality, and a steady value chain.

[00:06:34]And they are yet to be convinced that the new antibodies are better than what's already on offer.

[00:06:38]So Alina and her team want to prove their approach is fit for the industry.

[00:06:43]In 2025, their animal-free pregnancy test hit the shelves of German drugstores.

[00:06:49]It's EU certified and yields 99% correct results like conventional tests.

[00:06:54]>> At the beginning it was like totally unreal to see my own product in the shelf.

[00:07:01]So it's it's a great experience.

[00:07:03]>> Since then, Alina's already had to lower the price because consumers weren't buying it.

[00:07:08]Right now it's in a similar price range to the other tests.

[00:07:12]Their labels don't mention the use of animals anywhere. If you're lucky, you can dig it up in the fine print.

[00:07:19]>> It's not communicated. [music] It's just nothing. People who buy these tests, like any tests, rapid tests, know.

[00:07:29]>> It's a different story with [music] cosmetics.

[00:07:32]The industry shifted to animal cruelty-free testing for makeup years ago and made sure to label it.

[00:07:38]Alina hopes to repeat this for rapid tests. But first, she needs [music] to get the message out.

[00:07:46]A couple days later in Germany's capital, Berlin, Alina and her co-founder Stefanie are getting ready for a gig.

[00:07:53]At the live recording of a YouTube show, a group of sustainable startups pitch their products to digital creators hoping for reach.

[00:08:02]>> That's always an obstacle we have that the audience doesn't know we have to to make awareness. And I think Stefanie can do that very well. [laughter] >> That's so lovely.

[00:08:13]>> Yeah. So, she will pitch.

[00:08:15]>> Nerves in the room are running high.

[00:08:19]A few finishing touches, and they're on.

[00:08:31]>> So, we not only created a better product, but also a future in which no animals will have to die for pregnancy tests and other rapid tests.

[00:08:40]>> Yes.

[00:08:44]>> And success.

[00:08:51]>> [laughter] >> It was freaking amazing.

[00:08:53]>> Yeah, it was great.

[00:08:54]>> Yeah, it was beyond beyond awesome. Yeah, they were so lovely. They were so interested. And we had a we have a deal.

[00:09:05]>> One of the creators with a huge female following agreed to broadcast their product online.

[00:09:10]She was baffled to learn about the use of animal testing herself.

[00:09:15]>> I honestly didn't know that pregnancy tests aren't vegan. It's really important to address this and to get this information out into the world.

[00:09:25]>> What happens next will depend on how well this works.

[00:09:28]To truly change diagnostics, Alina and Stefanie's technology needs funding, scaling, and trust from regulators, manufacturers, and [music] eventually consumers.

[00:09:38]If it works, it could put fewer animals at risk, put less pressure on resources, and allow more people to benefit from diagnostics [music] globally.

[00:09:47]From the Berlin stage to the lab to the sea.

[00:09:50]This story shows what's possible when science looks beyond routines and follows new paths.