Perspectives on alternatives to current animal testing techniques in preclinical toxicology.

Abstract

In ancient times, knowledge of the biological properties of natural substances, both medicinal and lethal, was a vital source of power for witch doctors and magician priests. Today, given the steady increase in public concern about the possible deleterious effects of chemicals in our environment, the information the toxicologist possesses is once again an important influence in society. Toxicologists are being asked to provide answers to ever more complex questions. Unfortunately, the knowledge base and the techniques currently being used to acquire that knowledge are often unequal to the task. In the early 1960s, both the thalidomide disaster (1) and the publication of Silent Spring by Rachel Carson (2) dramatized the possible negative impact of potent new pharmaceuticals and pesticides. As a result, government authorities throughout Europe, North America, and Japan responded to public concern by demanding a dramatic increase in the requirements for premarket testing of new products. Existing animal tests were refined and more animal tests were developed in an attempt to evaluate the safety of drugs, food additives,