very cool

Researchers seek animal test alternative

TROY, N.Y. - The lab rat of the future may have no whiskers and no tail — and might not even be a rat at all.

With a European ban looming on animal testing for cosmetics, companies are giving a hard look at high-tech alternatives like the small, rectangular glass chip professor Jonathan Dordick holds up to the light in his lab at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

The chip looks like a standard microscope slide, but it holds hundreds of tiny white dots loaded with human cell cultures and enzymes. It's designed to mimic human reactions to potentially toxic chemical compounds, meaning critters like rats and mice may no longer need to be on the front line of tests for new blockbuster drugs or wrinkle creams.

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This is definitely a field that needs more research. We need to get away from the inhumane treatment of animals in the lab.
Obviously, this is going to take some time, but it's good to know that people are at least thinking about it and working on it.