Getting More from Your Cell: High-Tech Approaches for In Vitro Testing

Toxicity testing in vitro is undergoing a revolution, and Science and Technology are the drivers - a strong push to embrace a more scientific approach to the understanding of human toxicological hazard, that provides a regulatory decision-making framework where in vitro methods are a critical source of information, coupled with the impact of advanced and converging technologies that are driving the development of a new generation of test systems capable of delivering vast quantities of high quality data. Within this context, the basic approach to developing reliable and relevant in vitro systems for toxicological profiling has to change. Rather than trying to create biological models that mimic the in vivo situation in every way possible, to be able to correlate in vitro data with late-stage pathology data derived from animal studies, we need to take a hypothesis-driven approach to designing tests, that requires a deep theoretical understanding of biological systems, and the requirement of embodiment of specific biological functionality in systems that test against related mechanisms of toxicological action. The ultimate goal is a win-win situation – improved risk assessment methods in the field of consumer safety, with a significantly reduced reliance on animal testing. This talk with describe this change in design philosophy of in vitro systems, and will give some examples of in vitro test systems that reflect the sophistication emerging in modern approaches.