Huge EU project on new computerized ways to test chemical substances

Computers will minimize the use of laboratory animals

High hopes for the outcome of a huge EU research project on toxicity testing of chemical substances used in everyday life. The project involves researchers from Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Protein Research, researchers from the Danish Environmental Protection Agency as well as project partners from 36 universities across Europe

Søren Brunak, program director of the Disease System Biology program at Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Protein Research at the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, expects that the outcome of this huge EU project will “lead us to a better understanding of how toxicity of chemical substances affects our proteins and genes and will also help us reduce the use of laboratory animals in this area. Today animal studies are expensive and to a high extend applied when testing chemistry used in our everyday life: from medicine over rain coats to the upholstery on our sofas,” says Søren Brunak.

The plan with this project is to create a paradigm shift towards using computer methods to understand how substances affect cells and tissues instead of using laboratory animals”, he adds. (from Ingeniøren 13 October 2015)

Read more about the project in the EU-ToxRisk press release http://www.eu-toxrisk.eu/ and read the article in ‘Ingeniøren 13 October 2015’ (only in Danish).

Contact:

Program Director, Søren Brunak, Disease System Biology at Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Protein Research at the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen (via Nanna Birch Andersen: nanna.birch@cpr.ku.dk)