Additional sources of information on scientific and policy issues relevant to the development and use of non-animal test methods.
Alternative Methods-focused Websites
3R Research Foundation Bulletin and News
Johns Hopkins Center for Alternatives to Animal Testing (CAAT)
ECVAM Database Service on Alternative Methods to Animal Experimentation (DB-ALM)
eTox: seven-year consortium project funded by Innovative Medicines Initiative aiming to develop drug safety database, innovative in silico strategies, and novel software tools to better predict toxicological profiles of small molecules in early stages of drug development; eTox Library: http://cadd.imim.es/etox-library
European Union Reference Laboratory for alternatives to animal testing (EURL ECVAM)
European Consensus Platform for Alternatives (ECOPA)
European Society of Toxicology In Vitro (ESTIV)
European Commission Sixth Framework Programme (FP6) websites:
ACuteTox: project for developing in vitro methods to predict human acute toxicity
carcinoGENOMICS: project for developing in vitro methods to assess the carcinogenic potential of compounds
COMICS: project for developing in vitro Comet assay and cell arrays for screening chemicals for potential genotoxic and cytotoxic effects
EXERA: project for the development of 3D in vitro models of estrogen-reporter mouse tissues for pharmaco-toxicological analysis of nuclear receptors-interacting compounds
Forinvitox: project for promoting the transfer of alternative tests into products for end users
INVITROHEART: project for developing stable human cardiomyocyte cell lines and in vitro human models for pharmaceutical and toxicology testing
Mitocheck: systematic analysis of genes and proteins required for chromosome segregation and cell division in human cells (FP6: 2004-09)
NHR DEVTOX: project for conducting a prospective analysis of the role and mechanisms of nuclear hormone receptors in developmental and reproductive biology and determining their potential for this application
OSIRIS: project for optimized strategies for risk assessment of industrial chemicals through integration of non-test and test information
ReProTect: project for developing an integrated set of tests for assessing reproductive/ developmental toxicity
Sens-it-iv: project for developing in vitro methods to assess potential lung or skin sensitizers
European Commission Seventh Framework Programme (FP7) websites:
AXLR8: project to increase networking, information exchange, problem solving, and collaboration among scientific disciplines and stakeholder groups to accelerate the transition to a toxicity pathway-based paradigm for chemical safety assessment
CADASTER: case studies on the Development and Application of In Silico Techniques for Environmental hazard and Risk assessment
COACH: cluster level coordination and support for SEURAT-1
COSMOS: integrated in silico models for the prediction of human repeated dose toxicity of COSMetics to Optimise Safety; part of SEURAT-1 cluster
CREAM: network of partner institutions working to develop ecological models for the risk assessment of chemicals, primarily pesticides
DETECTIVE: detection of endpoints and biomarkers of repeated dose toxicity using in vitro systems; part of SEURAT-1 cluster
diXa Project: Data Infrastructure for Chemical Safety
EnviroGenomarkers (also see EnviroGenomarkers at Imperial College)
ESNATS Project: project for developing a novel all-in-one toxicity test platform based on embryonic stem cells to accelerate drug development and provide an alternative to animal tests
EUROECOTOX: integration of European activities on the replacement and reduction of animal experiments in ecotoxicology
HeMiBio: Hepatic Microfluidic Bioreactor; part of SEURAT-1 cluster
HEROIC: project to integrate knowledge across human and environmental risk assessment; developed TOX-HUB Platform: http://www.heroic-fp7.eu/en/content/TOX-HUB-platform.5/
MARINA: project to develop and validate the risk management methods for nanomaterials
MitoSys: extending MitoCheck (FP6) research on mitosis using systems biology perspective (FP7: 2010-2015)
MODERN Modeling Nanotoxicity: project to understand processes governing the interactions of environmental nanoparticles with biological systems for safety assessments
NANoREG: project to develop common European approach to the regulatory testing of nanomaterials
NanoTEST: project for alternative testing strategies for the assessment the toxicological profile of nanoparticles used in medical diagnostics
NOTOX: predicting long-term toxic effects using computer models based on systems characterization of organotypic cultures; part of SEURAT-1 cluster
OpenTox: website platform intended to support the development and validation of in silico models and algorithms and their integration with other alternative test methods
Predict-IV: project to develop strategies for assessing drug safety by an intelligent combination of non animal-based test systems, cell biology, mechanistic toxicology and in silico modelling
SCR&Tox: Stem Cells for Relevant efficient extended and normalized Toxicology; part of SEURAT-1 cluster
SEURAT-1: collaboration of 6 research projects with the goal of developing knowledge and technology to replace in vivo repeated dose systemic toxicity testing with non-animal methods
ToxBank: supporting integrated data analysis and servicing of alternative testing methods in toxicology; part of SEURAT-1 cluster
VITROCELLOMICS: project for developing stable cell lines and in vitro human liver models for preclinical drug testing by the pharmaceutical industry
European Commission Horizon 2020-funded project websites:
EDC-MixRisk: project focusing on effects of chemical mixtures and on endocrine disruptive chemicals
Fund for the Replacement of Animals in Medical Experiments (FRAME)
Go3R: search engine for locating information on replacement, reduction, and refinement alternative methods
Interagency Coordinating Committee on the Validation of Alternative Methods (ICCVAM)
Institute for In Vitro Sciences, Inc. (IIVS)
In Vitro Testing Industrial Platform (IVTIP)
National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of Animals in Research (NC3Rs)
Norecopa (Norway’s Consensus-Platform for Replacement, Reduction and Refinement of Animal Experiments)
QSARs and REACH, A Guide to Sources of Information and Advice: resource of tools, information sources, and experts compiled by PETA UK
Tracking System for Alternative test methods Review, Validation and Approval in the context of EU Regulations on Chemicals (TSAR): Joint Research Center of the European Commission website for tracking the validation status of alternative methods
University of California-Davis Center for Animal Alternatives Information
Scientific Websites/Glossaries
ACS Interactive Periodic Table of the Elements
Allen Brain Atlas: resource for research, news, and events in neuroscience and genomics
Biology Online: biology wiki, a resource for biology related information; biology forum, biology discussion boards
Cancer Cell Line Encyclopedia: genetic and molecular information for nearly 1,000 cancer cell lines; provides public access analysis and visualization of DNA copy number, mRNA expression and mutation data for about 1000 cell lines. Published results: Barretina, et al. (2012). The Cancer Cell Line Encyclopedia enables predictive modelling of anticancer drug sensitivity.
CIRM, California’s Stem Cell Agency: information and funding to accelerate clinical stem cell treatments; includes The Stem Cellar blog
Closer Look at Stem Cells: Sponsored by the International Society for Stem Cell Research to promote “education in all areas of stem cell research and medical application”; includes Stem Cells in Focus blog
DevTox: resource for researchers in developmental toxicology; includes harmonized nomenclature and a database of images
Ecotoxicology & Models: information and resources related to ecotoxicology and modeling, including: toxicokinetic and toxicodynamic modeling; applications in risk assessment of chemicals; and links to ecotoxicology models, software, databases, publications, and people
Epigenomics resources, databases, and tools
EurekAlert!: online science, medicine, and technology research news service operated by AAAS
European Science Foundation (ESF)
Lundbeck Institute Brain Atlas
Merck’s Interactive Periodic Table of the Elements
National Pesticide Information Center (NPIC)
PubPeer: online community where scientists can comment on most published scientific articles
Toxipedia: wiki-website for toxicology and other public health professional to share information with other professionals and the public
Government Websites/Information
Chemicals Policy Initiative: An organization formed to advance policy debate on reforming chemicals policy in the United States; their website contains information and resources on US Federal and state chemicals policy, as well as chemicals policy in Canada, Latin America, Europe, Africa, and Asia-Pacific regions
Community Research & Development Information Service (CORDIS): European research & development and innovation activities
Drug-Induced Liver Injury Network: collaborative effort established by National Institute of Diabetes and Kidney Diseases to develop nationwide registry of human drug-induced liver injury cases
FDA National Center for Toxicological Research: NCTR research and bioinformatics tools
Federal Register: official daily publication for rules, proposed rules, and notices of US Federal agencies and organizations, as well as executive orders and other presidential documents
Human Health Risk and Environmental Analysis Group at ORNL: US Department of Energy research and news
Legislative Information US: from The Library of Congress
US National Institutes of Health (NIH)
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
Risk Assessment Information System: risk assessment information and tools from US Department of Energy
Science.gov: science information provided by US government agencies
Toxicology and Environmental Health Information Program at National Library of Medicine: access to databases (including TOXNET®), bibliographies, tutorials, and other scientific and consumer-oriented resources
Chemical Inspection and Regulation Service (CIRS): international regulatory compliance publications
ECETOC: industry-funded think tank providing technical reports, monographs, JACC Reports (comprehensive reviews of toxicological and ecotoxicological data on individual chemical substances), scientific briefing papers, and other publications
Environmental Risk Assessment and Management (ERASM): study and workshop reports, position papers, and other publications; platform of European detergent and surfactants producers associations
European Commission JRC reports and publications related to “Alternatives to animal testing and safety assessment of chemicals” include the following:
National Academies Press, National Academies of Sciences reports:
Serum-Free Media for Cell Culture: spreadsheet
Stem Cells in Predictive Toxicology: 35-page report based on workshop held July 2008 by the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM), the California agency devoted to stem cell research
WTO Documents Online: access to over 100,000 official documents of the World Trade Organization in the three official languages from 1995 onwards; updated daily
EurActiv: European news and policy issues
US National Library of Medicine
Wikipedia: encyclopedia of user generated information
The World Clock: time zone converter
Worldometer: world statistics updated in real time
United States Patent and Trademark Office Electronic Business Center
EPA’s Chemical Safety for Sustainability Quarterly Research Update
EPA news releases: subscriptions; search
FRAME News newsletter
NAS Emerging Science for Environmental Health Decisions newsletters
OECD Environment Health and Safety News
Science for Environment Policy, DG Environment News Alert Service
SOT Communiqué
SOT In Vitro and Alternative Methods Specialty Section newsletters
USDA APHIS Stakeholder Registry e-mail updates
Alternative Toxicological Methods for the New Millennium (2003): Sidney A. Katz and Harry Salem (editors), CRC Press
Assay Guidance Manual (2004): open access eBook providing guidance for developing high-throughput screening (HTS) assays to identify probes that modulate activity of biological targets, pathways, and/or cellular phenotypes
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press: scientific books and journals
Encyclopedia of Toxicology, 3rd ed. (2014)
Human-based Systems for Translational Research (2015): Robert Coleman (editor)
In Vitro Toxicology Systems (2014): Anna Bal-Price and Paul Jennings (editors)
Reducing, Refining and Replacing the Use of Animals in Toxicity Testing (2013): David Allen and Mike D. Waters (editors)
Regulatory Toxicology: Franz-Xaver Reichl and Michael Schwenk (editors)
Statistical Methods for Evaluating Safety in Medical Product Development (2015): A. Lawrence Gould (editor); includes chapters on analysis in QSAR modeling, Phase 1 trials, cardiovascular toxicity, hepatotoxicity
The Dictionary of Cell & Molecular Biology, 5th Edition (2013): John M. Lackie (editor)
The Principles of Humane Experimental Technique (1959; special edition 1992): by Russell and Burch