PETA Science Group Celebrates 10 Years of Advancing Animal-Free Toxicity Testing
London – With its spotlight on non-animal tests, PETA Science Consortium International e.V. has helped transform toxicity testing and the definition of good science. Its 25 scientists located in Belgium, France, Germany, India, the UK, and the US are now celebrating a decade of success in the funding and development of cutting-edge, animal-free methods and collaborating with government agencies and corporations to replace the use of animals in toxicity tests.
Today, the group released a report showcasing its impact in advancing the field of non-animal toxicity testing.
The Science Consortium was established to modernise toxicity testing globally, as regulatory agencies around the world require the testing of chemicals, pharmaceutical drugs, pesticides, and other substances to assess their potential to harm humans, wildlife, or the environment. Millions of animals are used each year in these tests, many of which are decades old. In its first 10 years, the Science Consortium has spared countless animals painful, deadly tests.
“Now more than ever, harnessing the power of modern science and technology allows us to make accurate predictions about the potential of substances to cause adverse effects, keeping our friends, family, and world safer,” says Science Consortium President Dr Amy Clippinger. “We are grateful for the fruitful partnerships we have made over the past 10 years and look forward to many more years of advancing reliable and relevant animal-free science.”
The report features successful collaborations with government, industry, method developers, academics, and non-governmental organisations on precedent-setting projects. For example, funding from the group helped create a first-of-its-kind, three-dimensional model that can be used to study the effects of chemicals on the deepest part of the human lung.
The Science Consortium also funded a project that led to the creation of fully human-derived antibodies capable of blocking the toxin that causes diphtheria to replace the existing diphtheria treatment that’s produced using horses. Another project involved collaborating with the US Environmental Protection Agency on research that resulted in a policy preventing hundreds of birds each year from being used in tests that have produced duplicative information. The Science Consortium has also proved instrumental in supporting companies appealing against tests on animals, leading to hundreds of lives being saved and fundamental policy changes to prevent further avoidable tests.
For more information, please visit ThePSCI.eu.
Contact:
Sascha Camilli +44 (0) 20 7923 6244; [email protected]
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