Advances in Toxicology Testing Through New Technologies
1. Center for Alternatives to Animal Testing (CAAT)
Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, USA –
University of Konstanz, Germany
Francois Busquet, PhD
Toxicology for
the 21st
century
in USA
15. An atmosphere of departure in
toxicology 2007
New technologies from
biotech and
(bio-)informatics revolution
Mapping of pathways of
toxicity (PoT)
NAS vision report Tox-21c
“Traditional toxicological testing is based largely on the use of
laboratory animals. However, this approach suffers from low
throughput, high cost, and difficulties inherent to inter-species
extrapolation - making it of limited use in evaluating the very
large number of chemicals with inadequate toxicological data. “
16. "The Tox21 collaboration will transform our
understanding of toxicology with the ability to
test in a day what would take one year for a
person to do by hand."
“In FY 2014, the EPA will continue the multi-year
transition away from the traditional assays used
in the endocrine disruptor screening program
through efforts to validate and use computational
toxicology and high throughput screening methods.
This is expected to allow the agency to more
quickly, efficiently, and cost-effectively assess
potential chemical toxicity.”
“The NTP recognized that the dramatic technological advances in
molecular biology and computer science offered an opportunity to
use in vitro biochemical- and cell-based assays and non-rodent
animal models for toxicological testing.”
17. LOW COST & TIME
=X
$10 millions US + 5 years time
X =
$10,000 US + 2 weeks vs. 6 months
25. •3000 YEARS OF TRADITION = HUGE
KNOW HOW
•LACK OF CROs (CONTRACT RESEARCH
ORGANISATION)
•28 REGULATORY AGENCIES
•SHORTCOMINGS FOR IN VITRO
MODELS – DIFFICULT ENDPOINTS
•MANPOWER - R&D INVESMENTS
27. •MEMBER STATES DUTIES REGARDING
ARTICLE 47 - DIRECTIVE
2010/63/EU
•13 MEMBER STATES ONLY
•AAT vs. national R&D
investments: 0.001 to 0.035%...
Editor's Notes
The goal is to move toxicology from a predominantly observational science at the level of disease-specific models to a predominantly predictive science focused upon a broad inclusion of target-specific, mechanism-based, biological observations.
Could overcome many of animal testing shortcomings, especially using stem cells