Posted on 07/02/2009 1:21:39 PM PDT by wagglebee
This does not make sense.
There are already multitudes of cell lines. Not a single one of them is adequate for toxicology testing. There is no reason to think cells from embryos or fetuses would be adequate, either.
You can tell if a potential drug is cytotoxic using cell lines, and determine what the LD50 is for the specific cell lines being used in the testing. But there is no way to test every cell type to verify non-toxicity of a protodrug.
Furthermore, some deadly toxins are not lethal to cells. No amount of testing using cell lines (of any type) is going to catch a non-cytotoxic but still toxic protodrug. That’s why animals are used in toxicity testing: there simply is no alternative.
The use of cell lines is great for reducing animal use, but it cannot replace it.
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