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A Different Kind of Laboratory Mouse

Few issues rouse such strong emotions as the use of animals in laboratory testing. For a growing number of people, animal testing conjures up images of small, defenceless creatures being poisoned by chemicals, or having caustic substances sprayed in their eyes.

But for others, testing on animals is a necessary step in finding cures for diseases that cause extensive human suffering. It’s one thing to argue that animals should not suffer for the sake of an improved hair dye, but more difficult to object to animal testing in the quest for, say, a cure for cancer.

Fortunately, there is some room for compromise. It is possible to find viable alternatives to tests on live animals and, thanks to technology, at least some of them can saved without abandoning important research.

There is more than one way to reduce testing on animals. One method tests tissue grown in a lab from small samples taken from animals or humans. This is known in scientific circles as in vitro testing, a name based on the Latin word for glass, since the tests are done in glass vessels or test tubes. However, an emerging option is to use computer simulations. In silico testing, as it is called, takes place somewhere within the inner workings of silicon computer chips.

Computer testing is not an all-purpose substitute for in vitro or in vivo (live) testing, but it is definitely a complement. “It can be used as a very advanced screen to predict a potential risk,” says Dr. Alan Goldberg, director of the Center for Alternatives to Animal Testing at the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health in Baltimore. “However, like all computer models, it has to be based on some actual data” — data might come from tests already done on animals in clinical trials or in vitro testing.

In silico testing is an example of how technology continues to successfully create beneficial methods because once a model has such data, it may be able to predict the likely effects of chemicals and drugs without testing on live animals. But tests using computer models are still relatively new, so they’re not yet sufficient for making final decisions about the safety of drugs or chemicals for human consumption.

The good news, though, is that if pre-screening with computer models determines that a compound is likely to be dangerous, the developer can decide not to pursue it further, saving time and money. Thus, fewer chemicals or drugs end up being tested on animals, and those that are potentially nasty are likely to be eliminated. The
result: less suffering for laboratory animals.

A handful of software packages exist for doing in silico testing.

Toxicity Prediction by Computer Assisted Technology (TOPKAT), a software package from Accelrys Inc., can predict the toxicity of a given chemical based on what is known about similar compounds. It can be used to pre-screen promising chemicals to determine which are less likely to have dangerous side effects. The company says various Canadian and U.S. government agencies use TOPKAT, as do some pharmaceutical companies.

Lhasa Ltd., a spinoff of the chemistry department of the University of Leeds in England, developed Deductive Estimation of Risk from Existing Knowledge (DEREK) for Windows, a knowledge-base expert system that analyzes the structure of chemicals and predicts whether they will be toxic. Though its developers say it gives “reasoned opinions” rather than definitive answers, they also say DEREK can help reduce the use of laboratory animals in testing.

Computer models are still not good enough to be used as the only means of testing new drugs and chemicals, but with the ballooning growth of technology, never say never. As artificial intelligence improves, and science sees a few more breakthroughs in the way the models are developed, it might not be that far off.

The lab mouse of the future might only be one that you click.



This article is part of Digital Journal’s national edition. Pick up your copy of Digital Journal in bookstores across Canada. Or subscribe to Digital Journal now, and receive 8 issues for $19.95 + GST ($39.95 USD).

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