Fifth World Congress on
Alternatives and Animal
Use in the Life Sciences
At the end of August, almost 1000 people attended
the 'Fifth World Congress
on Alternatives and Animal Use in the Life Sciences'
in Berlin, the majority
of whom were scientists. Many of the delegates
have worked for years to
develop scientific methods that can exceed the
stringent 'validation
criteria' set for them, in the hope that they
will be accepted and used in
preference to the animal tests that could never
reach the same standards -
and indeed have never been required to do so.
The scientists presented
evidence of amazing developments and progress
that promise to revolutionise
our approach to the testing of drugs and chemicals,
and the use of animals
in medical research. Examples include computer
programmes that can predict
the toxicity of drugs and chemicals with unprecedented
accuracy; the use of
human stem cells to assess the hazards posed
by these substances; new models
of the skin to test for harmful absorption and
corrosion properties;
enhanced use of 'genomic' technologies to screen
drugs and to elucidate the
causes of human disease.
The presentation of a
study invalidating animal-based testing of potential
human carcinogens, co-authored by our Science
Director Dr Jarrod Bailey, won
one of only two conference prizes for its scientific
merit, beating off
competition from 350 others. Dr Bailey was also
invited to present his study
on the futility of animal testing for substances
that can cause birth
defects, which was very well received.
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