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Three U.S. Agencies Agree to Research Model that May Replace Animal Testing

Feb 18th, 2008 • Posted in: News

High-speed robots will gauge effects of toxic chemicals on human cells and molecules

WASHINGTON
In a move lauded by animal-rights activists, three federal U.S. government agencies announced last week that they will develop robots for use in testing of toxic chemicals, rather than using lab animals.

USA Today reports that the deal was worked out among the National Institutes of Health, the National Toxicology Program, and the Environmental Protection Agency.

According to an analysis from Scientific American, the plan involves using technology developed by each of the agencies to develop the high-speed screening robots and interpret the results on human cells and molecules.

In addition to taking animals out of the equation, UPI reports, officials behind the project say the results will be more relevant to humans.

According to U.S. News & World Report, the new method is being advanced for ethical and practical reasons. “As a society, we need to be able to test thousands of chemicals in thousands of conditions at a much faster rate than we did before,” said Dr. Elias Zerhouni, director of the National Institutes of Health. “The idea here is to move the 20th century paradigm of testing one compound at a time in many animals to a 21st century paradigm to test five to 10,000 compounds against 5,000 to 20,000 conditions in cells that are specific to human toxicology.”

Although no specific timetable was set for implementation of the program, press reports indicate that the work will evolve over the next decade.

It is unclear also whether all animal testing can be eliminated by the protocol.

Sources: U.S. News & World Report, Feb. 16 — Scientific American, Feb. 16 — UPI, Feb. 15 — USA Today, Feb. 14.

For more information, see: Related Newsline story, Feb. 11 — Related Newsline story, Feb. 4 — Related Newsline story, Jan. 22 — Related Newsline story, Jan. 22 — Related Newsline story, Jan. 7.

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1. Ethics Newsline » News » Animal Rights is Small but Noticeable Issue in China, Reports Paper on March 3rd, 2008 at 9:32 pm:

   [...] more information, see: Related Newsline story, Feb. 18 — Related Newsline story, Feb. 11 — Related Newsline story, Feb. 4 [...]

2. Ethics Newsline » News » Robots on the Battlefield May Represent Next Big Issue in Military Ethics on March 3rd, 2008 at 9:46 pm:

   [...] more information, see: Related Newsline story, Feb. 18 — Related Newsline story, Nov. 26, 3007 — Related Newsline story, Aug. [...]

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