Worldwide, millions of animals are used for toxicity testing of compounds intended for human and environmental use. Now, toxicologists have developed software that can accurately predict the outcomes of these assays.
The researchers compiled information from public databases including PubChem and the US National Toxicology Program on 10 million chemical structures and existing chemical safety data to develop an algorithm that was at least as reliable than animal testing itself. The tool was 87 percent accurate in predicting animal testing results, while repeating the animal tests was only, on average, on-target 81 percent of the time. The results were published this week (July 11) in Toxicological Sciences.
“There is no doubt that this is an innovative approach,” Fiona Sewell, a program manager in toxicology and regulatory sciences at the National Centre for Replacement, Refinement, and Reduction of Animal in Research in the U.K. who was not involved in the work, ...
