Biochip Takes the Next Step Toward Replacing Animal Testing

Posted: December 18, 2007

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Co-lead author and Solidus Biosciences co-founder Douglas S. Clark, professor of chemical engineering at the University of California at Berkeley, adds that pharmaceutical companies are not the only potential user. “The initial market will not necessarily be pharmaceuticals,” Clark said in the press announcement.

He explained that the initial market will likely be chemical and cosmetic companies that are being pushed to eliminate animal testing or that cannot afford such testing. By 2009, cosmetics companies selling in Europe will be restricted from using animal testing for chemical toxicity. “Obviously cosmetics need to be safe and ensuring the safety of new compounds without testing them on animals presents a new challenge to the industry, especially as the number of compounds increases," said Clark, in the press announcement. "These chips can meet this challenge by providing comprehensive toxicity data very quickly and cheaply.”

Dordick and Clark were joined in the research by Moo-Yeal Lee and Michael G. Hogg of Solidus Biosciences; R. Anand Kumar of Berkeley; and Sumitra M. Sukumaran of Rensselaer. The research was funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the New York State Foundation for Science, Technology and Innovation (NYSTAR).

For more information, visit the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Web site.