Collins FS, Gray GM & Bucher JR. Transforming environmental health protection. Science 2008; 319: 906-907. www.sciencemag.org. Download (240 kb).
 

SUMMARY
Describes a collaborative research program established by the US National Toxicology Program, Environmental Protection Agency, and the National Institutes of Health Chemical Genomics Center, aimed at facilitating a shift from in vivo animal studies as the basis for most toxicity testing, toward in vitro assays, in vivo assays with lower organisms, and computational modeling for toxicity assessments. Objectives include building capacity to include the large numbers of substances that need to be tested; incorporation of recent advances in molecular toxicology, computational sciences, and information technology; increasing reliance on human as opposed to animal data; and increased efficiency in design and costs.