The European Commission has announced that it will match the €25 million already given by the European cosmetic industry to fund the development of new non-animal-based methods for safety testing cosmetics and household chemicals. The Commission hopes that substantial funding for research into cheaper, smarter alternatives to animal testing will increase public safety and simultaneously attend to ethical concerns over product testing in animals.
Image: *yasuhiro – Flickr
Image: *yasuhiro – Flickr
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Very interesting stuff... What are the alternatives? Do you know whether the EU are funding research into alternatives to animal models for other kinds of research?
The alternatives range from generating other types of human cells from stem cells, to developing cellular devices which simulate organs, to computer and systems modeling.
Right now the focus of EC research funding is to replace repeat-dose toxicity testing currently carried out in animals. These tests are intended to measure whether long-term use of a product has negative effects.
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