Strategy

Toxicity Testing in the 21st Century: A Vision and a Strategy (NRC, 2007) presents a bold plan for chemical toxicity testing that replaces whole-animal tests with cell-culture, genetic, other in-vitro techniques, computational methods, and human monitoring. Although the proposed vision is eloquently described, and recent advances in in-vitro and in-silico methods are impressive, it is difficult believe that replacing in-vitro testing is either practical or wise. It is not clear that the toxicity-related events that occur in whole animals can be adequately replicated using the proposed methods. Protecting public health is a serious endeavor that should not be limited by deny-ing animal testing. Toxicologists and regulators are encouraged to read the report, carefully consider its impli-cations, and share their thoughts. The vision is for too important to ignore.