New Product Tests Spare the Animals
Submitted on Oct 29, 2011 (Original item from 2011)
Animal Experimentation | General Animal Protection | Pharmaceutical, Medical or Biomedical Research | Product Labeling, Certification or Regulation
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Short Description:
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.
Abstract:
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.
Spot Check Number:
1855
Sponsor:
Allergan Inc.
Animal Type:
Research Animals
Record Type:
News Article, Online Reference
Research Method:
Experimental/Modeling/Applications
Geographic Region:
United States National
Population Descriptors:
Research animals
Year Conducted:
2011
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