Animal Testing and In Vitro Testing as a Replacement

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In the past, animals have been subjected to inhumane and often unnecessary tests to determine the lethality of chemical-containing drugs and products. Such experimental procedures have angered animal rights enthusiasts and made many question the usefulness of such testing. Typically, the information received from toxicity tests on animals cannot adequately predict the effects that new drugs and products will have on humans. Thus, the recent progression of in vitro and in silico assays has benefited not only lab rodents, but researchers alike. Animal models have been the standard for safety testing since the early twentieth century, when rats, mice, and dogs were (and still are) used in both biomedical and cosmetic research. During this time, the United States passed The Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act requiring pharmaceutical and cosmetic companies to conduct tests on animals to ensure the safety of their products (Evans, 2013). These tests were deemed toxicity tests for their measurement of harmfulness and lethality of new drugs and products. Such tests as the Draize test on rabbits, which measures dermal corrosivity, were common protocol for testing shampoos, pesticides, and household chemical products (Rangantha & Kuppast, 2012). Other tests include acute toxicity tests conducted to determine the effects of immediate chemical exposure, product testing measuring carcinogenicity and birth defects resulting from chemical exposure, and various drug tests which determine lethal side effects and appropriate dosages (Evans, 2013). Though some of these tests have provided important and inferential data regarding the harmfulness of consumer products and drugs, they are highly criticized for their inhumane procedures, costliness, and irre... ... middle of paper ... ...ch in Latin translates to “in glass”) methods, have provided versatility to safety testing. This is because in vitro methods can isolate tissue or cell components from either animal or human participants. In doing so, these assays can better predict the activities of drugs, antibiotics, vaccines, and chemicals in relation to human use (Rangantha & Kuppast, 2012). Moreover, the preparation and study involved in in vivo assays, or procedures that use whole organisms, is more complex than their in vitro counterparts. In particular, toxicity measurements in animals requires exposure to and ingestion of potentially lethal substances until 50% of the group dies off (Rangantha & Kuppast, 2012). This test, known as the Lethal Dose 50, has been replaced by the use of donated human tissue. By using human tissue it is also possible to detect toxic effects on human organs.

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