NOTOX: Working towards an animal-testing-free future
The testing of potentially toxic substances without the need for animals used to be an issue considered of unique interest to the animal rights lobby. Now it is a goal shared by many industry players, policy makers and consumers. The wind is certainly blowing in this direction. A full EU ban on the marketing of cosmetics and hygiene products tested on animals entered into force in March, and computer-aided models are increasingly being seen as viable alternatives to animal testing. In order to capitalise on recent scientific progress, the five-year EU-funded NOTOX project was launched in 2011, to ensure that Europe remains at the forefront of both toxicity testing and animal welfare. The project intends to develop and validate new computer models capable of predicting possible long-term toxic effects on the human body. The most important consequence of this will be that, in the near future, the use of living organisms to test the safety of certain substances will simply no longer needed. Of course, the replacement of animal testing for toxicity in humans remains a major challenge. Using state-of-the-art in alternative methods as starting point, the NOTOX project therefore plans to explore and establish techniques based on a systems biology approach. This approach focuses on complex interactions within biological systems, adopting a more holistic perspective towards biological and biomedical research. The project focuses on the liver, the central organ for eliminating toxic substances from the body. NOTOX scientists have examined, through various test-tube experiments, how certain substances affect human liver cells. They then devised highly complex computer models to replicate their findings. The next stage will be to develop algorithms that closely mimic the processes that actually take place in human tissue when exposed to toxic substances. This will enable scientists to use the new computational models to make reliable long-term predictions. Cellular activities will be monitored continuously, and together with curated literature and genomic data, will be organised in a toxicological database. In order to achieve its ambitious goals, NOTOX has brought together eleven internationally renowned and interdisciplinary research teams from all over Europe, including academic research laboratories and four small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs). Scheduled for completion at the end of 2015, the project will receive a total of 4 849 981 in EU funding. In fact, citizens can see for themselves how the project is progressing. A film team was allowed to follow NOTOX scientists over several months, and their film is now available on the project's website. The video provides a fascinating insight into the challenges of developing alternative testing methods, and also showcases some of the cutting-edge technology being employed.For more information, please visit: NOTOX http://www.notox-sb.eu/(opens in new window) Project factsheet
Countries
Germany