Because of this change, researchers will still use animal testing as their gold standard.
According to an article in Science, the Environmental Protection Agency has abandoned a proposal to eliminate the use of mammal testing for the purpose of determining the toxicity of chemicals. At the beginning of 2019, the regulatory agency made a commitment to totally eliminate the use of animals in toxicological research by the year 2035. Instead, they will use non-animal “test subjects” that are programmed into computer models.
The appeal to disrupt the status quo was controversial from the beginning. Not only was it going to have an effect on thousands of research and tests, but many scientists believed that computer models were not even close to being able to replace animals as test subjects. In a letter that was prepared by a group of public health officials, the experts encouraged Michael Regan, the head of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), to reconsider the restriction. They stated that computational models were “not yet developed to the point” where they could be relied on for risk assessments.
In order for the new prohibition to go into force, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) stated that there will need to be “scientific confidence” that non-animal models are capable of effectively replacing animals in laboratories such as mice and rabbits. An Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) representative told Science that the agency would continue to investigate alternatives to animal testing, despite the fact that the deadline of 2035 has been postponed.
However, the ambitious concept is not completely hopeless in its current state. Although the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has not issued any formal pronouncements regarding the manner in which it intends to work towards its initial goal, which is currently without a timeframe, a number of studies have demonstrated that computational models have the potential to adequately reflect the toxicology of specific chemicals while they are being tested. As a result of these research, it appears that they can even surpass laboratory rats in some situations.
Through the use of stem cells, 3D innovations such as technical organoids are also appearing on the research front. These stem cells make it possible for artificial livers to be tested and evaluated during research in the same manner that a human liver would be. Using 3D printers, researchers are presently researching on ways to reduce the amount of time and effort required to create realistic organs. However, it may take some time before the use of 3D printing can be relied upon to provide regular assistance to pharmacologists and biologists for the purposes of research and drug testing.