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New Product Tests Spare The Animals

Summary By: | Published: October 29, 2011
Estimated Reading Time: < 1 minute
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EXTERNAL STUDY This is a summary of an external study
The United States government approved a toxicity test that could, in the future, eliminate 10% of the 17 million animals used for research, according to this article.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a toxicity test for Botox developed by the company Allergan Inc. that does not use animals. Researchers have developed a toxicity test that utilizes nerve cells in a petri dish to replace the Lethal Dose 50% test that was previously used to test every batch of Botox the company made.

For this new method of testing Botox, scientists grow nerve cells in a petri dish and apply Botox to test if it successfully cuts nerve cells as it is supposed to do. This test allows for Botox to be tested in about a week and is quicker and more cost efficient than animal tests. However, Botox users can’t yet be cruelty free. The company still utilizes animals in other tests “to determine the toxicity of standard compounds they compare to Botox.”

According to this article, about 10% of an estimated 17 million animals used in research are used in toxicity tests. Researchers hope that more advancements of a similar nature will make animal research for the sake of toxicity tests obsolete in the next 20 years.

External Link:
http://www.latimes.com/health/la-he-animal-testing-2011...
Meet the Author:
Faunalytics is a nonprofit research organization dedicated to helping animals by providing useful information to advocates to help them increase their impact.

Citations:

Amber Dance, Allergan Inc., 2011 United States (National)

Tags:

Animals Used in Science Other Topics Biomedical Research English Product Testing Research Alternatives Research Animals

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