Exciting new technologies are moving us nearer to a world without animal testing. Some of these methods were highlighted at the Nanotechnology conference that took place in May 08. Nanotechnology: Towards Reducing Animal Testing More...
- Skin models that use patches of skin grown in the petri dish, and replacing rabbits in skin irritation and corrosion tests. Several skin models have been developed, including EpiDerm™ (MatTek Corp., Ashland, US), EPISKIN™ and RealSkin™ (Skinethic, Nice, France) and CORROSITEX® (for use skin in corrosion tests.)
- Tissue engineering uses living cells as engineering materials, to produce artificial tissue, for instance; respiratory airways and corneas. More … (PDF)
- Silicone microchip or “biochip” Each chip holds hundreds of tiny white dots containing human cell cultures and enzymes, that mimics human reactions to potentially toxic compounds, and charts reactions over time. More…
- Computer modelling uses software to predict the toxicity of a compound, and how the body is likely to respond to it. The software processes existing information about the properties of a compound and it’s molecular structures, to predict its affect on the body. More …
- Microdosing involves giving doses to human subjects in minute quantities that are unlikely to have a whole body effect, yet high enough to be able to monitor human response to the drug. This provides crucial data to determine the correct dosage for a given drug. More…
UPDATES:
November 2008 - The European Commission have launched a new online tool which provides clear information on the progress being made towards alternative methods, presented in a userfriendly format. More... [pdf]
May 2008 - the first search engine for alternative methods to animal experiments is available online. Aimed at scientists and researchers, Go3R [pdf] improves access to information about alternatives.
As these alternatives demonstrate, given sufficient funding, resources and motivation, the development of new alternatives to replace animals is a realistic goal. Progress towards non-animal alternatives is not without hurdles however. More… |
