Robot Tests Chemicals for Toxicity

The 10,000 chemicals to be tested will include chemicals in industrial and consumer products as well as food additives and drugs. So far 2500 chemicals for potential toxicity have been screened. The FDA of course is right in here participating as with drugs this is one of their top priorities, to be able to predict unfavorable outcomes perhaps before a drug is approved and in circulation. This can stand to add valuable information to drugs in the clinical trial stages as well. You can watch the robot in action at the link here, done in Quick Time. Below is a time released video showing how the robot was set up. The evaluation process can take from one to five days and Pfizer is right up there ready to give it a try and again I would think all pharma companies would want to be on this band wagon as soon as possible. A little less than a year ago the FDA announced their partnership with the NIH on the project. Tox21 began initially as a joint project of the NIH and EPA. One benefit too is that fewer animals will have to be used for looking for toxicity as what has been the main practice up until today.